


Night City

by Deos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Sex, First Time Bottoming, Fluff and Smut, Gay Bar, Kinda AU, M/M, Oral Sex, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Power Bottom, Reyes is a leather daddy, Soldier Enhancement Program Era, Undercover Missions, Why does everything I write grow a plot, r76
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-03-07 18:13:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18878566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deos/pseuds/Deos
Summary: Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes are sent to investigate possible illegal activity at a front for one of the country's most notorious suppliers of omnic parts. This front just so happens to be a gay bar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set during Jack and Gabriel's time in the Soldier Enhancement Program. As part of different squads, they only know each other in passing until being assigned to this mission.

_This had to be the most ridiculous cover for an operation in the history of the SEP._

Well, that wasn't saying much. The program had been implemented less than a year ago, after all. But really, couldn't the powers-that-be have concocted a _less_ harebrained scheme?

For the first time in his life, Jack cursed his boyish good looks. He knew _exactly_ why he had been selected for this mission. 

_Ha ha, look at the golden boy! So smooth and baby-faced, young and handsome - he'll fit right in at this scene._

And they would be right. 

When Jack had looked in the mirror he had been surprised at the man staring back. Tight clothes, trendy shoes, his shaggy blonde hair fashionably undercut. He looked trendy. Positively _twinkish,_ if one could ignore the muscles bulging beneath the gray spandex of his shirt. 

He had never felt more conspicuous when he walked out of his hotel room that night. Less because of how he was dressed and more because the whole thing felt like an unconvincing costume. He didn't feel like _himself_...which was of course the whole point.

Sure he was gay, but that didn’t mean that he was a walking stereotype from 2012!

Growling under his breath, Jack slid on a pair of sunglasses and drove towards his destination, praying all the while for the phone call that would call off this entire thing.

Of course, it didn't come.

He didn't make eye contact with anyone as he walked the three blocks from his car towards the nightclub. Parking there had been non-existent; hardly surprising given the place's popularity. Just another thing that ticked a box on Jack's growing list of things about the mission that made terribly uncomfortable.

 _The Supple Leopard_. A notorious gay nightclub, and also apparently a front for one of the largest parts suppliers for the extremist group: Zero Sum.

Who would have guessed?

The line stretching from the door was nearly a block long. Jack queued up. Fishing his phone from his too-tight pocket, he joined the rest of the people staring at their screens, trying to appear cool and aloof. With his peripheral vision he watched the rest of the would-be patrons, ears pricked for any questionable strains of conversation. Unlikely as it was that he'd get a lead outside the building, one could never be too sure. 

The line moved faster than he expected. He had hardly been there seven minutes before he was three people away from the front, watching a bouncer turn away a soft-faced young man with a quick shake of his head.  

Ah yes, that was right. This place also had an unspoken 'attractiveness code'. 

When it was his turn, he stepped forward and flashed both his ID and blinding smile at the bouncer, who only gave him a cursory glance before letting him through. Uncertain as to whether he should've been relieved or nervous, Jack went inside. The man hadn't even looked at his ID!

Not that he had expected any trouble with that either; his fake was the finest the SEP could manufacture.

The hall was dark, its smooth walls painted the iron color of thunderclouds. It didn't lead straight on, instead terminating in a leftward turn that stretched into complete blackness. In that darkness a bass beat throbbed, giving him the impression that he was sliding down the gullet of some enormous beast.

Feeling vaguely as though he was trudging toward a gallows, Jack moved forward, not even reassured when a path of lights sprung into being to guide his way.

_This is a terrible idea._

Jack shook off the doubt. He was here, he had to make the most of it. Steeling himself with a breath, he tried to slide into his manufactured persona. No longer was he John Morrison, Sergeant of the U.S. Army. He was Miles Johnson, college transfer fresh onto the San Diego scene.

He followed the trail of red lights deeper and deeper towards the source of that monstrous heartbeat, until at last the hall terminated in a set of crash doors. Purple light spilled from the small windows set in them. He pulled one open, revealing the cavernous club itself. 

It was sleek, that was certain. Well-funded illegal operations tended to be. 

Inside was all gold-flecked black marble and velvet curtains; it felt more like he’d walked into a bank lobby masquerading as an opera theater instead of a nightclub. The same purple light glowed down from high above, casting everything in ethereal half-shadow. A pervasive, jungle bass throbbed like a heartbeat, vibrating right through the floor and up into his toes. 

 _Couldn't hear that from outside._ The place was impressively sound-proofed; adding credence to the idea that it was far more than it appeared.

Across from the dance floor was the bar, a long expanse of rich glossy wood. Behind the bar the bartenders flitted like ghosts, clad in all black except for the neon glow of lumisticks around their wrists and necks.

The bar and dance floor were busy, but not crowded. Frankly, he was surprised; from the line outside he expected it to be jam-packed. The bouncers must've been turning people away left and right. 

Jack squeezed into an open space at the bar, and opened his tab with a vodka soda, turning to watch the dance floor.

The place was expansive. Probably it had to be to hide the large, illegal outfit going on beneath its sultry veneer. The dance floor alone was as big as the ballroom his first military ball had been held in, but far more lively.

_And wouldn't you know it, I'm still a wallflower._

There was, at least, something more entertaining to look at besides his superior officers moving their wives stiffly across the dance floor. Here lithe men dressed in scant outfits undulated in cages, smoky-eyed and untouchable. A low haze clung inches above the floor, blown from some hidden fog machine. There were even open dance poles for patrons to test their skills on. 

Jack's let himself look for only a minute before moving on. He wasn't here for the eye candy. Instead he found the edge of a far wall, following it back until he caught sight of the darkened mouth of a back hall. That was it: his objective.

If it weren't for the glowing white sign denoting 'RESTROOMS' on the opposite side of the room, that hall could've been mistaken for them. 

But it wasn't. SEP had reason to believe there was a secret entrance into the factory within the club itself. If he was a betting man, Jack would've put his money on that. 

Bathrooms? Too conspicuous. Anyone could walk in at the wrong moment. Bar? Also too conspicuous. Unless there was a trapdoor in one of the dancer's cage floors, the club was too clean-lined and open to allow someone to disappear from the main room.

Jack took another sip of his vodka soda, gaze drifting back over the patrons. Hopefully by next week he'd be able to tell which of these people were regulars; it would sure make his job a lot easier. He was supposed to be meeting up with another soldier here in week three of his stakeout - the SEP had wanted to be cautious about introducing new faces - but until then, all intel came from him.

"Hey there, cutie."

Jack wasn't aware that someone was talking to him until he felt something brush his arm. He turned his head to see an elfin man with violently pink hair less than three feet from him. Heart galvanized by surprise, Jack only managed a weak smile in response to the stranger's grin.

"You're new here," Pink-Hair observed. He was wearing eyeliner that ended in an upward sweep towards his brows, giving his lids a catlike curve.

_Was it that obvious?_

"Uh, yeah," he said, laughing nervously. "Is it that obvious?" 

The man's grin turned predatory. "Mmm, everyone here knows fresh meat when they see it, darling," he purred, leaning close. "Especially someone so…" his eyes roamed across Jack's skin tight gray shirt, his muscled arms, lingering at the bunched fabric of his crotch. "... _delectable_ as you."

Jack stared, aghast. Of all the connections he had intended to make with the locals, he had hardly expected this. 

As used as he was to directness, this kind of advance made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. He was being... _ogled_. It made him want to get up and move, but, besides the distinct feeling that it wouldn't deter the other man, he knew he shouldn't. He was supposed to integrate himself here. Now that opportunity was presenting itself on a silver platter. 

_Roll with it, Morrison._

God, he was so unprepared. He couldn't seem to unglue his tongue. 

The man held his bewildered gaze for a moment longer, then his sultry aura fractured and he dissolved into peals of laughter.

"Oh man, you should see the look on your face!" he chuckled, bumping Jack lightly on the shoulder with his fist. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just had to. Sorry if I freaked you out." He grinned again, an open and honest spread of small, perfect teeth. 

"Um, it's okay," Jack replied, feeling positively faint with relief. For a few seconds there he had thought he was about to blow the mission in record time.

"I'm Alex," the pink-haired man said, holding out a hand for Jack to shake. "But most people just call me Lex."

"I'm M-Miles," Jack said, lips fumbling over the unfamiliar name. He took Alex's hand. Thin, cool fingers squeezed his own firmly. 

"Miles, huh?" Alex said, testing Jack's name on his tongue. "Well, nice to meet you. You _are_ new around here, yeah?"

"Yeah, I just transferred to UCSD." 

"College boy, very nice." Alex flicked a finger at the bartender, who brought him some fruity-looking drink in a frosted glass. 

"I'm, is it super obvious that I'm new?" Jack said, feigning awkwardness. "New kid on the block" was supposed to be part of his shtick, but sticking out like a sore thumb was not.

"If you know what to look for." Alex shrugged his concerns away with a hearty slurp of his drink. "I come here pretty regularly. You get to know the usual crowd after awhile."

That was reassuring. So it wasn't some defect on his part.

"And of course, someone like you…"  his eyes lazily traced Jack's body again, "definitely would've pinged my radar before now."

Ok, less reassuring. Jack tried to ignore Alex's blatant interest in him and returned to his drink. He was tempted to text his supervisors gloatingly after tonight and let them know that their plan to send in a cute, blonde soldier incognito was backfiring spectacularly.

"What do you mean by that?" Gay he might be, but apparently he was an oddity even here.

"You just look so... innocent. Like you've never seen a place like this before."

Oh _._ Maybe he'd been too obvious in his casing of this place.

"Not to mention, you're exactly my type."

_Or that._

"So, where ya from, Miles?"

Alex seemed intent on getting to know him, so Jack resigned himself to it. He angled his stool so he could keep an eye on the back room, and combed through his cover story quickly. It paralleled his own life, albeit with some deliberately-obfuscated details.

"Dolan, Indiana. It's a pretty small place." The lie was close enough to the truth that it passed his lips easily. After all, Dolan was just north of Bloomington, his hometown. 

"Oooh, are you a country boy?"

Jack thought back to his father's farm: plowing and tilling the fields, baling hay in the summers, spraying crops, setting up sprinklers, and long hours spent elbow-deep in the equipment, replacing parts.

"Yeah, I guess you could call me that," he said truthfully. 

That's what he had been known as all through high school: the farmer's kid. Country bumpkin. The meaner kids had called him a hick until he had gone out for football. 

"Is that where _these_ come from?" Alex reached right into Jack's personal space to cup the swell of his bicep and squeeze. He did it right as Jack was taking another sip of his drink, and Jack choked.

He coughed for a few seconds, turning red from combined exertion and embarrassment.  "I-I suppose s-so," he sputtered, ears burning. If this night was heralding how the rest of the mission was going to go, he was in for a _long_ few weeks.

" _Oh_ mygod, you are just too cute!" Alex cooed over him, making him turn redder. "You wanna dance?"

Jack hadn't even gotten his mouth open to answer before Alex grabbed his shirtsleeve, tugging him towards the dance floor. Jack had to follow, or risk having his straining clothing ripped off.

Alex pulled him right into the middle of the largest throng of people, turned, and planted his rump squarely against Jack's crotch. Jack, tugging the tight folds of his sleeve out of his armpit was taken aback when he felt the rhythmic press of Alex's ass against him, mimicking the pounding swell of the music.

 _Oh no_. 

When Jack didn't move, Alex cocked his head back at him, pink fringe bouncing. "You're supposed to grind back!" he shouted over the cacophony, reaching back to grab Jack's hips, pulling them together in time to the beat.

Reluctantly, Jack followed his lead. The crowd, which had parted when Alex had shoved his way through closed around them. Sweat began beading his neck, dripping down his back and causing his shirt to cling, if possible, even tighter. _Gross_. It was so _damp._

He was acutely aware of the looks that he and Alex were attracting. He tried not to meet anyone’s eyes, but there was hardly anywhere to look that wasn’t occupied. Skin flushing with embarrassment, he decided the best course of action was to just close his eyes.

_Keep your head in the game! You’re supposed to be watching the hall!_

But he couldn’t see the hall, not from here. 

"Lex, how come you always snag the hot ones?" someone called over the blaring music. Lex shouted something back that Jack couldn’t make out, and somewhere behind him a hand ghosted over his ass.

He was in for a long night.

 

***

 

When Jack woke up the next morning, he rolled out of bed with a squeak of tortured bedsprings and shuffled into the yellowed bathroom. He needed a piss and a strong cup of coffee, preferably in that order. 

When he looked into the mirror, a haggard, bloodshot version of himself blinked back. He had been up late into the night, first trying to accomplish his objective and then keep up with Alex. Somehow those two things had been at odds the whole night.

A shower and shave had him at least looking human again, but when he wandered into the kitchen he realized he didn’t have any coffee. Sure, he had a little kitchenette with a coffee maker and a couple packets of cheap hotel grounds, but life was too short to drink bad coffee.  He needed a hot shot of brew to start the day right. 

Which meant he was already off on the wrong foot. 

He left for the store quickly, grumbling at his lack of foresight. He should’ve done all the shopping yesterday, but his flight had arrived late and he’d almost missed his hair appointment. By the time he’d checked into his hotel, he’d only had time for a late dinner before leaving at the assigned time. 

Piling a mess of quick meals into the cart, he splurged part of his per diem on a bag of gourmet grounds and a thermos. A man had to live on something, and he could be content with this. 

The next week he went to the nightclub five out of the seven nights - being there every night was a little _too_ conspicuous - and by the end of it Jack was beginning to feel like he was getting a handle on who all the regulars were.

That was due in no small part to Alex -or Lex as he had insisted on being called- who seemed to have taken Jack under his wing. Or maybe just trying to get in his pants. Either way, the man was a great help. He seemed to know everybody, and if Lex called out a name or waved to someone, Jack immediately filed them away as 'regular'. 

He was even able to start snapping a few pictures of people who look pretty suspect, sneaking off to the back and never reappearing. 

Of course, with the frequency that he was being pulled onto the dance floor, there was no guarantee that he wasn’t just missing their return, but he hoped his hunches were right.  Next week he was going to try probing Lex on what he knew about the establishment.

Jack thought that by the time his backup arrived he’d have some pretty good intel to get them debriefed. He had daily logs of the happenings at the nightclub, and his best descriptions and a few dark photos of the most suspicious patrons. He just needed a way into the back rooms to nose around.

Jack's second week was spent casually questioning Lex, but either the man was an excellent liar or he didn't know anything. One evening when Jack saw a couple peel away from the edge of the dance floor and sneak into the back hall he nudged Lex.

"What's back there?" he asked, gesturing over with his drink.

"Ooohhh Miles, why do you want to know?" Lex lifted one eyebrow at him, leering. "That area is for more, ah, _private_ affairs."

Jack knew exactly what he was getting at, but decided to play dumb. "What, like drug deals or something?"

"Oh, no no no no _no._ Something much _better_." Lex trailed one finger over Jack's forearm. "I could show you, if you want." His voice was positively dripping with innuendo, his body leaning eagerly towards Jack.

It was moments like these when Jack was keenly aware of how much Lex lusted after him. And while he could acknowledge that the man was attractive, it was probably in his best interest to not get romantically entangled with anyone here. Not to mention, Lex wasn't exactly his type.

"Uh, no. I think I get what you mean," Jack said, rubbing his neck and breaking the contact between them.

"Good choice!" From Alex's other side another man gave him a thumbs up. It took Jack a few seconds to remember his name - Conrad or Conway, something like that. "Dude is so thirsty for your dick it's just embarrassing."

"Shut _up_ , Conrad!" 

Well, that was one mystery solved. 

Jack knew he needed to get into that back hallway. So far it looked like the only way to make that a viable option was to fake a romantic liaison. Maybe he could set up a plan with his backup agent when they arrived in two days.

For now, Jack would wait.

"So, wanna dance?"

...and keep dancing.


	2. Mmm, leather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boi appears this chapter

_ Monday, 10:38 pm _ . 

Jack sat at the bar with Lex, sipping on another vodka soda. Tonight was the night that his backup was to arrive, and he had been trying hard not to watch the door all evening. He wondered who the SEP would be sending him. Whoever it was, he wanted to witness their reaction when they came through the door. 

“Wanna hit the dance floor?” Lex asked, rubbing against him like a cat. “This is one of my favorite songs.”

The music was sultry, slow, extremely sensual. Of course it was one of Lex’s favorites. 

“Ummm, maybe in a couple minutes,” Jack said, stalling for time. “I want to finish my drink first.”

Lex pouted. “Fine, be that way.” And off he sashayed, down the bar to another man who was drinking alone and looking a bit put out. Jack watched for a moment as Lex slipped in to the empty space next to the stranger, giving the man an inviting smile and beckoning him to the dance floor. 

As they went, Lex tipped him a wink. He stopped at the edge of the dance floor nearest Jack and began putting on a show; grinding, tossing his head back, letting his hands wander freely up and down the man’s legs. It was obvious that he wanted Jack’s attention, but Jack kept his head down, sipping his drink and checking the corners of the room periodically. 

Not much to be seen. He recognized a few faces here and there, but no suspicious movem-wait. There was a auburn-haired man on the fringes of the dance floor. Jack was sure he had seen him before, but not as a regular. Hadn’t he slipped off to the back just last week? 

Fiddling with his sunglasses, Jack managed to snap a few pictures as the man leading another into the back hallway before they disappeared. He opened his phone to type a note. This was promising. 

By the time he looked up, the song was over and Lex was back at his side, waving and blowing a kiss at the dazed-looking man he’d left on the dance floor. 

“You gonna play on your phone all night, Miles?” Lex said, helping himself to Jack’s drink. 

“Just had to send a message,” Jack lied, stowing his phone. “I’ll be down to dance soon.” He could still probably watch the door from the dance floor, as long as they stayed on the fringes.

“Good, cuz otherwise I’ll have to swoop on that hot new guy.” 

_ New guy? _

Stealing his drink back, Jack gulped another bracing mouthful, sweeping his eyes casually along the bar as to not appear over-eager. He was mid-swallow when he spotted him – and almost blew his drink right out his nose.

His backup had arrived. 

Swallowing around the burning in his sinuses, Jack choked back his disbelieving laughter. Of all the people they could have sent, they sent  _ Reyes? _

Gabriel Reyes, Army Major, SEP designation: Soldier 24. An officer a few years older and a few ranks higher than Jack, he had a reputation for being a bit of a hardass with a quick tongue and even quicker hands. The man was damn skilled at both hand-to-hand combat and weapons proficiency. 

He also had a penchant for being a right asshole, if what some of Jack’s squadmates had told him was true. Reyes hadn’t been in his group; he had been in squad 4, while Jack had been squad 10. They had mingled in the initial stages of the soldier enhancement program, the whole lot of them put through stringent batteries of physical and mental tests. Even though they were often too out of breath to chat, that had been more than enough to get an impression. 

Knowing Reyes’ personality, Jack would’ve expected him to be one of the last people the SEP would send. A job like this required patience and flexibility, both of which he rather felt that Reyes lacked.

And, not to dog on the man, but...he was surprised he’d managed to clear the bouncers. He wasn’t exactly “classically attractive”. 

But there he was, sitting on a barstool not four people down from Jack. Must’ve slipped in while Jack had been taking notes. Though, even if he had seen him enter, Jack might not have recognized him.

His hair –buzzcut just before they had received their first round of injections– was longer and shaggier than Jack had ever seen it. The usual five-o-clock shadow that darkened his jawline had sprouted into an actual goatee, making him look much older. It was very effective, as far as camouflage went.

Too bad the rest of him was so conspicuous. 

Skintight leather pants, black combat boots; Reyes could've stepped out of a Matrix movie. More eye-catching than his pants though was his top - or lack thereof. He was wearing a leather vest, unzipped, but with nothing underneath; it hung limply, completely exposing his hairy, muscular torso.

“Mmmm, leather daddy,” Lex purred, seeing Jack watching Reyes. “Pretty fucking hot, hm?”

Jack blinked, tearing his eyes away. “Uh, I guess?” 

How was he going to approach Reyes with Lex there? 

“Oooh, he’s looking at you!” Lex whispered, leaning close to Jack’s ear. “Wanna put on a show for him?”

“What? I-” 

Too late. Lex had grabbed his wrist and was tugging him towards the dance floor. Not wanting to draw more attention to himself, Jack followed, pointedly  _ not _ looking at Reyes. Maybe after this dance he’d pretend he had to take a leak. If Reyes had an ounce of sense, he’d follow Jack to the bathroom. 

Lex was all over him, ‘putting on a show’ as he called it. First grinding his ass all over Jack’s groin, then turning around to slot their legs together and tease him face-to-face. He rested his head against Jack’s chest, pink hair tickling Jack’s chin even as Jack leaned back slightly to give himself space from the intimate embrace. He could feel his face reddening, and hoped that the dim lighting was obscuring it. God, this was embarrassing. He risked a glance towards the bar and saw Reyes looking right at him,  _ smirking. _

Ugh.

When the song ended, Jack hastily broke away from Lex, citing the bathroom. He actually did have to piss now, so he did his business and then washed his hands as slowly as he dared, waiting to see if Reyes would follow.

He didn’t appear.

Cursing mentally, Jack trudged back out towards the bar. He wasn't surprised to see Lex cozied up next to Reyes, but he  _ was _ surprised to see Reyes tolerating - no,  _ welcoming _ Lex's advances. 

His body was angled towards the slighter man, leaning forward on one arm and looking for all the world like he was enjoying the casual violation of his personal space when Lex ran a brazen hand down his furred chest. Shaking his head, Jack went back to his spot at the bar and ordered another drink. He was going to have to approach Reyes soon. Maybe if it worked out right, Lex would ‘introduce’ them.

Just as his drink arrived, his prediction came true. 

“Miles!” 

Jack turned to see Lex hovering over to him, hand outstretched, and allowed himself to be pulled over to where Reyes was. 

“Yeah?” he said, pointedly addressing Lex. 

“This is Vincent!” Lex said, placing one hand on Reyes' shoulder. “He’s new here, just like you.”

“Is that so?” Jack said, and this time he did look at Reyes. 

Reyes was cradling a bottle of beer, and as Jack watched he drained it in one long draft, slamming the glass back on the bar. He smirked at them, a wicked leer that didn’t meet his dark eyes. “Yeah, just moved into town for work.” 

“We were just talking about you!” Lex said coyly, reaching out to trace a nail down Jack’s chest. 

“Oh yeah?” Jack took a gulp from his own drink, willing the alcohol to ease his tongue. He had thought the worst of the awkwardness was done with by now; at this rate he was going to need to be drunk to handle the both of them. What an idiot he was, thinking having backup would be helpful.

“Yeah,” Reyes said. “I was just saying, it’s a shame that Alex has a partner who can’t dance worth a damn.” 

Jack’s eyes flew open. Of all the things that could’ve come out of Reyes’ mouth he hadn’t expected that. Was it supposed to be some kind of opening?

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty terrible!” he acknowledged. “What can I say, I have no rhythm.”

“I can help you with that.” Reyes positively purred. 

Ah, so that was gonna be his angle. He could give the man credit for making their first encounter seem natural, but did he  _ have  _ to be as licentious as Lex?

“Um…”

To his surprise, Reyes extended a hand towards Lex. Together they walked onto the dance floor, leaving Jack feeling both confused and annoyed.

_ This wasn't how it was supposed to go. _

He sipped his drink and puzzled over what had just happened, trying to ignore the two on the dance floor. It was difficult. Lex was up to his usual antics, and Reyes seemed to only be feeding the fire. The display they were putting on had gathered the attention of more than a few onlookers, and Jack even heard a few wolf-whistles. 

_ Doesn’t he want to be debriefed? _

Jack couldn’t seem to wrap his head around it. Reyes’ actions made no sense.  _ He _ didn’t need to make nice with Lex, not when Jack had already established a rapport. Unless he was just trying to show off.  _ Oh yeah. _ That could  _ definitely _ explain it.

He tried to soothe away the prickle of irritation with a new drink, which seemed to work. Waiting wasn’t so bad, compared to having to dance again.

Reyes seemed to be enjoying himself. Jack had to give him credit, he  _ did _ have rhythm. And if the exultant look on Lex's face was any indication, he was having the time of his life. Less than 15 minutes and Reyes had worked him over; maybe he was more adept at this than Jack had given him credit for. 

Reyes caught him watching. His wiggled his eyebrows in a ‘ _what are you gonna do?’_ motion and gave Jack a smug grin before Jack thought to look away. 

The irritation was back.

When at last the song ended, Jack had drained his drink and was sorely tempted to order something stronger. He resisted. Professionalism was his strong suit, he would not be getting wasted on this mission.

"Wow, that was fucking amazing!" Lex was saying as he and Reyes made their way back towards the bar. "I think I need to change my clothes, holy shit!"

Lex did look rather wet. Jack couldn’t tell if it was his sweat, Reyes’ sweat, or both.  _ Eugh. _ He plopped down next to Jack, fanning himself. "Did you see us out there, Miles? Vincent is like, sex on legs!"

"Mmm," said Jack, pretending to be sucking the last drops from his drink cup.

"Think I got enough skill to teach your boy Miles a thing or two?" Reyes said to Lex, leaning against the bar and looming over Jack. He was looking a bit damp himself, if the faint sheen on his neck and chest could be believed. There was a smell too. Something dark, faintly salty, unmistakably rich. The leather? 

"I think if anybody could, it would be you." 

And now they were disparaging him, right in front of him.  _ Slow, deep breaths.  _

"Howabout it  _ Miles? _ " The way Reyes said his 'name' made Jack strongly reconsider the drink.

“Go on, Miles! I wanna watch this,” Lex said encouragingly, nudging Jack off his bar stool and towards Reyes.

Needing no prompting, Reyes wrapped an arm around Jack’s shoulder and escorted him to the dance floor. He leaned in close to Jack’s ear, whispering, “So, they sent you to do this job, golden boy?”

“Looks like it,” Jack replied through gritted teeth. That  _ nickname. _ Whoever the hell had started it, it had stuck; it preceded him, much like Reyes’ reputation had. Jack Morrison, the perfect super soldier. The golden apple of the SEP’s eye. Just because he had high standards for himself, his perfectionism had been twisted into an irritating moniker. 

“Relax _ , _ ” Reyes murmured, and swung Jack around, slotting him firmly in the vee of his own thighs so that his groin was pressed to Jack’s ass, his hands on Jack’s hips. “Follow my lead.” 

Yep, Reyes was definitely mocking him. That, he could handle. But this? Somehow in the last two weeks he had never really imagined what it would be like to dance with the other agent assigned to his mission. Maybe he had hoped to get someone equally embarrassed by this whole thing; someone who he could at least be comfortably uncomfortable with out here.

Reyes did not fit that in the slightest.

They were too close. It was like the universe was conspiring to see how far it could push Jack’s comfort levels. He had thought he was stronger than this, but no amount of grueling training, weird injections or rigorous education could have prepared him for the mental overload of  _ dancing with a fellow agent. _

His mind just couldn’t get into it. Jack’s rhythm faltered, becoming even more stilted. He felt Reyes’ hands tighten on his hips, then a tickle in his ear as Reyes hissed "Jeez, loosen up! I've only been here for twenty minutes and I can see that the only thing keeping your cover from being blown is your little buddy there."

Hah,  _ that _ was rich. Reyes, telling him to loosen up? 

Reyes, seemingly able to sense Jack’s mounting frustration, loosened his grip on Jack’s hips. His tone gentled.

“Listen, I know this isn’t exactly the normal scene for either one of us. Just - here.” He let go of Jack’s hips, then spun him around so that he and Jack were now facing each other. Pulling them close, he did as Lex had done earlier, meshing their legs so that there was barely a handsbreadth between them. Unlike Lex, he kept his hands on Jack’s waist, grounding him. This close, every movement flowed naturally between them. 

“Now, tell me what you got for intel.”

They were so close that it was impossible to ignore the heat rising off Reyes skin, the warm press of his arms around Jack’s sides and back. That smell was back again; heady and dark. It filled Jack’s nose, distracting him.

“ _ Miles? _ ”

Oh, right. Intel. 

Jack gave him the rundown of the last two weeks and his best descriptions of the shady characters he’d been photographing. 

“I have pictures on my laptop that I can send you when I get back to my hotel. I haven’t been able to get in the back to look around yet though. Lex seems to think the space back there is just for people looking to hook up, but I doubt it. Maybe we can play that angle to get back there though.” Jack glanced at the hall. Still empty. It seemed to be taunting him.

Reyes hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe. Gonna have to really ramp things up in the next few days for that, though. That, or you’re gonna have to do a real good impression of someone who’s wasted.”

“What _?  _ Why me?” Jack said, frowning.

“Why?” Reyes smirked at him again, a positively devilish expression overtaking his face. It gave Jack a funny feeling in his stomach. His hands slipped up Jack’s back, pulling them together until they were almost nose-to-nose. 

“Because  _ I’m _ running this show now,  _ Miles _ .” 

And it could've been just Jack's imagination, but he thought he felt a hot tongue flicker across his earlobe before they broke apart. 

The song was over, and Reyes headed back to the bar, leaving Jack wide-eyed and flushed on the dance floor. 

_ Ah, shit. _


	3. A Slice of Lime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone ever wonders why sometimes there's a space between an italicized word and a period, it's AO3's fault.

Jack was going crazy. 

Reyes had been flirting with him the whole of this last week. He knew it was all in the course of the job, but the  _ way _ he did it just didn’t make sense. Pawing at him, inviting himself into Jack’s personal space, making eyes at him over the rim of his drink one minute, then stonily ignoring him the next. Surely the point of their time at the club was to be developing this pretend relationship?

Reyes had a wicked sense of humor and a keen analytical mindset; maybe this was just his twisted way of working toward their ultimate goal. But how was Jack to know? So far it was like they were on two completely different pages. Despite Jack's best attempts at full disclosure, Reyes was almost completely  _ incommunicado _ .

They weren’t staying at the same hotel; Jack had figured that out after the first night when Reyes had walked away from him once they’d left the building. Despite pointed questions he hadn't told Jack where he was staying, or what he was driving. He hadn't given Jack the number of his burner phone. He hadn't told Jack which days he was going to the club, or what time. Jack only had Reyes' email, to which he had diligently sent his logbook and the pictures he had collected, to no response. No thank you, no 'got it',  _ nada. _

It was  _ really _ starting to piss him off.

He’d thought that having another soldier here would mean he’d have another brain to pick; a stone against which he could whet his knife. Now he wished he'd been the only one assigned. 

Jack tipped his drink back, feeling the faint burn of alcohol scorching his throat like the breath of a dragon. He'd chosen something a little stronger tonight, hoping to burn the raw edge off of his nerves. It wasn’t really working. Instead his mind churned harder, throwing off the pleasant haze of his drink.

Reyes seemed to be doing that thing _.  _ That macho bullshit thing that military men sometimes did, throwing their rank around to get their way, best interest of the troop be damned. He had hoped the men chosen for the SEP would be above such petty games; they were all equals, after all.

_ "I'm running this show now, Miles." _

Like hell he was. Reyes was wasting their valuable time. Toying with him.

He'd reel Jack in on the dance floor; the only place he ever seemed to want to actually communicate. He’d nuzzle close to Jack’s ear, breathing words barely above a whisper. It was weird. Way too intimate. He was pushing his boundaries; Jack could’ve sworn that more than once he felt the firm pressure of teeth on the shell of his ear, hot breath on his neck. A rough intake of breath, like Reyes was sniffing him. Warm hands that had gotten bolder, wandering up and down Jack’s sides while they danced, once even petting roughly through Jack’s hair. 

Jack shifted uncomfortably remembering that incident; he hadn’t expected the wave of pleasure that had come from that coarse touch. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, there was tension between them that had nothing to do with Reyes’ recalcitrance. It coiled taut as a viper in his chest, threatening to strike every time he let down his guard. 

He was fraying. Jack combed a hand through his hair, fingers pausing to worry the peach fuzz at the nape of his neck.

Tonight he would get Reyes to talk. They needed to at least hammer out a set date to make an attempt on the back hall. SEP would throw a fit if they came back after a month with only vague pictures as their intel. And it would have to be soon.

Jack looked around casually, scanning for familiar faces. He’d arrived at the club early, intent on getting some work done before Reyes sidetracked him with petty bullshit. The place was already jam-packed; gearing up for a wild Friday night. It was a wonder that Lex wasn’t there. Perhaps he’d moved on to greener pastures; Jack had gotten the distinct feeling that Lex had lost interest in him when he realized Jack wasn’t going to climb into bed with him. He wouldn’t have gone so far as to say he  _ missed _ him, but it would’ve been nice to have someone to talk to here other than Reyes.

Someone bumped his elbow. Jack glanced at the stranger, then shifted away when he realized it was some girl’s handbag. It hung from her shoulder like a bloated tick, wobbling with every movement as she gesticulated wildly to her friend. She looked to be part of the group that had infiltrated the bar; a bachelorette party, if the sash dangling from another woman’s shoulder was to be believed.  _ Great. _ Just what he needed; more strangers to parse through.

As if that wasn’t enough, another problem presented itself. Though he'd perched at the very end of the bar, some of the women seemed to have taken an interest in him. They drifted over as he was waiting for a fresh drink to come; three coltish, overmade ladies and a man who seemed to be hiding behind his bangs.

“Hey handsome,” the ringleader said. She was the shortest of the bunch, made taller by stilettos that looked pointy enough to puncture.

"Um, hi." Jack kept his body angled away, still waiting on his drink. Maybe if he remained curt with them they would get the hint that he wanted to be left alone. 

"You look kinda lonely. Wanna join us?" 

One of the other girls giggled. 

"Thanks, but I'm kinda waiting for my  _ -what was Reyes supposed to be to him?- _ friend," he said after a beat of hesitation. Evidently the short girl wasn't drunk enough to miss that pause.

"You sure?" she asked, drawing nearer. Any closer and her breasts were going to be pressing against his elbow. "We're looking for some new friends. Joey especially."

The man behind her smacked her arm with a hiss of " _ Rebecca!" _

Okay, he could admit it. He missed Lex. Lex had been good at fending off any of Jack's admirers here.

Jack heard Reyes’ low growl at the same moment he felt the hot press of a body against him, a heavy arm draping possessively across his shoulders. 

“Sorry, but he’s busy." Jack never thought he'd be  _ glad _ for Reyes' arrival, even if he was playing the possessive boyfriend. The arm not framing his shoulders slid across his stomach, caging him in. 

"Did you miss me,  _ cariño _ ?"

Jack didn’t know Spanish, but he knew the tone well enough to guess Reyes had called him some sort of pet name. The low, rumbling purr of that voice was almost hypnotic; he wondered briefly what it would be like to listen to Reyes speaking his mother tongue. 

“Maybe,” he said, trying to sound coy instead of gruff. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the four scurry back to their party, though one of the girls still threw Reyes an appreciative look as she went. As soon as they melted into the crowd he shrugged Reyes’ arm off.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're embarrassed."

“Thanks, I guess?” He swatted the hand still pressed against his stomach away. 

Reyes leaned against the bar next to him, propping his chin on his hand. “You know, you surprise me.” 

“How so?” The bartender finally arrived with Jack’s drink and he accepted it gladly. 

“Even after being here a few weeks, you still act like you can’t wait to get the fuck outta Dodge. Free drinks, free entertainment - I thought you’d be enjoying this a little more.”

Jack sighed. How could he possibly explain to Reyes the complete and utter disconnect he felt from a place like this? How he was used to the isolation of a farm, the endless fields and the wide open sky? The hustle and bustle of the military had been an adjustment, but he had chosen that. This place was anathema to him. Loud, busy, filled with strangers searching desperately to make a connection. And Jack didn’t  _ want _ to connect. 

“We didn’t have places like this where I grew up,” he said finally. 

You never went clubbing?” Reyes’ head shot off of his hand, his eyes wide. He was looking at Jack like he’d grown a second nose.

Jack shook his head.

“You never partied?”

Jack shook his head.

“Let me guess - you didn’t start drinking until you were 21.” 

Jack almost shook his head, then stopped. He remembered that once his parents had received a gift basket from a family friend that had included a bottle of champagne. His parents, neither of them drinkers, had popped the bottle and offered Jack a small glass of it. It had been terrible.

“Nnnnnoooo,” he said, since technically he had been fifteen. Reyes clapped a hand to his face with a groan. 

“Tell you what, boy scout. Let’s make a deal.”

“What deal?” Jack asked suspiciously.

“Prove you’re not a total square, and I’ll let you lead this gig.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. This shit again, really? “We’re supposed to be a  _ team _ , not playing king of the-”

“Ahhh c’mon  _ Miles _ , it’ll be fun!” Reyes interrupted him with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Live a little!” 

Prickling at being cut off, Jack turned his back to Reyes and took a long draft from his drink, swallowing the words that burned his throat like acid. He had to stay calm. Cool. People like Reyes thrived on reactions to their provocation.

He kept his back to Reyes and scoped out the dance floor again. Maybe he really should just say to hell with it and try his luck with someone out there. Ply some poor bastard with enough drinks that all Jack had to do was carry him back there and-

A warm hand crept onto his shoulder. Jack stopped himself from flinching just barely, forcing laxity into muscle that wanted to turn to iron. 

“Jackie…” Reyes’ mouth was at his ear, firm thumbs kneading the cords of muscle along his neck. 

If he was trying to endear himself to Jack, it wasn’t going to work. 

“C’mon, Jack.” Reyes wheedled. His fingers continued to work, igniting sparks of sensation that weren’t entirely unpleasant “I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think you’d like it.”

It was strange, how sincere he sounded. The teasing air had drained from his voice, becoming something soft and serious. Perhaps this was just another manipulation, chameleonic as Reyes had showed himself to be. 

Jack continued to gaze at the crowd, unseeing. His awareness had turned inward, focused entirely on the spot where Reyes was teasing a knot of fascia apart. This form of persuasion was one he had no experience with. Incredibly, his irritation was fading, losing all heat in the face of that physical sensation. 

_ Not fair. He shouldn’t be able to do that. _

With a sigh, he looked back. “Okay. But if I do this then you have to promise to focus. No more playing around.”

“Alriiiight!” And just like that, the real Reyes was back. He spun Jack around on his stool and held out his hand eagerly. “You got yourself a deal, boy scout.”

Warily, Jack shook it, realizing too late that he’d failed to put any parameters on this deal. Ah, well. If it was too ludicrous he’d just back out. It wasn’t like he’d signed a contract.

Reyes didn’t relinquish his grip, instead using it to pull Jack off his seat and down the bar towards the whooping crowd of bachelorette party attendees on the opposite end. Hadn't Jack  _ just _ escaped from them?

“You ever done that, Miles?” Reyes said loudly, pointing at the gaggle of excitable people. 

Jack watched them, uncertain of exactly  _ what _ they were doing. Through the milling crowd he was able to make out a busty red-headed girl sprawled along the top of the bar, who was squealing laughter as another girl licked up the length of her bare stomach. When she reached the bottom of the girl's rib cage, the licker buried her face in the short-haired girls breasts, motorboating her to the cheers of the other attendees.

His ears were burning, hot with second hand embarrassment. Reyes wanted him to do  _ that? _

The redhead was helped off the bartop, now giggling and blushing as the other woman - her girlfriend? - pulled her close and kissed her. 

“Anyone else?” The bartender called, gesturing with lumi-lit hands toward the crowd like he was the host of a TV show. “Anyone?”

“My boy Miles wants to try!” Reyes called, pointing right at Jack as he pushed him towards the bar. 

_ Oh no. _

Jack did not want to do that. Putting his  _ tongue _ on another person? Reyes had conned him again, and now he was trapped; scrutinized by so many eyes, he couldn’t turn back now without making even more of a spectacle of himself.

The crowd cheered when they saw Jack, parting and welcoming him with open arms. Hands patted his back, urging him forward, more than one smacking his ass with wild whoops and calls of “Miles! Yeah, go Miles!” He felt like a fish fighting on the end of a line, hooked by both peer pressure and his own word. 

It was only when he reached the front of the bar and saw the bartender patting the empty space on the wood that he realized his error.

He wouldn’t be the one doing the licking. 

Jack balked, freezing as he looked down at the bartop. He felt a warm shadow at his back, then Reyes was murmuring in his ear. 

“Go on, a deal’s a deal.” 

There was no trace of malice in his voice, just a strange urgency. Jack felt a hand ghost down his ribs, like he was a spooked horse Reyes was trying to calm. He hesitated, then  _ \- think of it as a test of bravery -  _ boosted himself up, pivoted, and brought his legs up so he was sitting parallel on the bar. He leaned back, acutely aware that every eye was on him.

From this position everything seemed vaguely menacing; tall, looming, strange figures crowding around him in the darkness.  _ Vulnerable. _

Suddenly Reyes was there looking down at him. His immediacy blocked out everything else, dark skin lit by the ghoulish purple glow of the bar lights.  Those dark eyes held his, burning with an emotion Jack struggled to place.

Maybe that’s why at first he didn’t notice Reyes hands moving. Warm fingers brushed his sides, tugging his shirt up all the way to his armpits even as his face flamed at the exposure. 

He flinched when he felt something tickling his stomach, and looked down to see the bartender sprinkling a line of salt from his navel to his solar plexus. A wedge of lime was nestled in the hollow of his throat. It wobbled, threatening to fall as Jack gulped nervously.

“Body shot!” the bartender punched the air with a bottle of tequila and then flourished it, twirling it dangerously overhead to the cheers of the crowd.

Jack flinched as cool liquid splashed over his abdomen, pooling in the hollow of his bellybutton and trickling down his sides in lines of icy fire. He had only a second to think  _ how did I end up here _ before Reyes was on him. 

A questing tongue wandered along Jack’s belly, chasing after the rivulets of tequila before dipping into his navel. Nerves firing on overdrive, Jack’s world narrowed to Reyes’ lapping tongue. Liquid heat plundered that hollow, then dragged along the line of salt, scraping the rough grains against his skin. He could feel the coarse tickle of Reyes’ goatee, a strange juxtaposition to the supple warmth of his tongue as he worked his way up Jack’ abdomen.

The crowd went wild, hoots and cheers shattering the strangely intimate moment. Blood pounded through his face, and Jack thought he might explode from the sheer embarrassment of it. 

That had to be it. It had nothing to do with the fact that his whole body felt flushed and hot, despite the chill of the alcohol drying on his skin.

Reyes pulled away, and Jack could see the lewd shine of his lips, wet with tequila as he hovered overhead. His eyes were fathomless, pinning Jack with an intense look before he dipped back down.

Jack couldn’t muffle a startled gasp when Reyes plucked the lime from his throat. It might have been his imagination, but he thought he could feel those lips seal against his flesh in the impression of a kiss before Reyes shifted, poised over Jack’s lips. He grinned, a white corona around the green rind of the lime before biting down and sending juice dripping across Jack’s lips, his chin, his throat. 

Again the watchers erupted, lewd calls and yells abounding. Jack was sure he saw the flash of someone’s camera as Reyes straightened, smirking. He spat the lime into his palm.

“Pretty fuckin’ tasty, Miles,” he purred, pulling Jack into a sitting position. Dazed, Jack swiped his tongue across his lips; beneath the tang of lime he could taste a hint of tequila and salt. He scrubbed his mouth with his arm, feeling the heat boiling off his cheeks.

_ Goddamn Reyes _ . Bastard knew what he was doing. He just wanted to see Jack squirm. God, he wished he could give him a taste of his own medicine…

Eyes widening, Jack realized he  _ could. _

“Not bad, Vincent” he said, feigning nonchalance. “But now it’s your turn. Hey, barkeep! Got another one!” He jerked a thumb at Reyes, who blinked in surprise at him.

The crowd cheered again, whistling as Reyes sized Jack up, shrugged and then nodded. “Alright then,” he shrugged and stripped his vest off, leaving him completely topless. “Let’s do this!” 

Whirling his vest overhead, he gave the crowd a rakish grin and then tossed it among the onlookers, who immediately began to fight over it. 

_ Hopefully he didn't keep anything important in there. _

Reyes reclined on the bar, arms folded behind his head like he hadn't a care in the world. Now it was Jack who watched as the bartender sprinkled a trail of salt across the expanse of exposed flesh. The grains stood starkly white against the tanned warmth of Reyes’ skin, nestled deep in the forest of hair that grew there. A slice of lime was placed at his throat, and again the bartender whooped as he flourished the bottle of tequila overhead to the cheers of the crowd, then splashed the amber liquid onto Reyes’ belly. 

Jack could see rings of light reflected in the tequila as it overflowed Reyes' navel, spilling down the hard lines of his abs. He met Reyes’ eyes for a moment, and the man cocked an eyebrow at him. 

_ Well, what are you waiting for? _

Jack paused, then in one swift movement sprang onto the bar, one knee on either side of Reyes' hips as he straddled him. The world narrowed until all he could see was the dark expanse of skin in front of him; the club faded into obscurity, the crowd a meaningless white roar. He dipped his head. 

The taste of Reyes’ skin was obscured by the liquor, an acrid tang that stung his throat badly enough to almost make him cough. He didn’t let it deter him. Pursuing the swell of Reyes’ abdominal muscles, he licked them clean before dipping his tongue into the waiting navel and pointedly tried not to think of how gross that was. 

Hands framing Reyes’ sides, he thought he could feel a startled jump as he moved on, licking up the salt enthusiastically. Each grain burst richly on his tongue, exquisitely intense. He worked up to Reyes solar plexus, but did not pause at his nipples. Instead he went straight for the lime, picking it up carefully with his teeth. Flipping it so that the juicy flesh was facing away from him, he went for the  _ coup de grace. _

One hand slipped behind Reyes neck, and he brought his lips down over Reyes’ own, crushing the lime with his teeth as he did. The peals of delighted screams were positively deafening now, but Jack wasn’t through yet. Warm juice flowed between their lips, and Jack used his tongue to coax Reyes’ mouth open, deepening it into a true kiss for a split second before he pulled away and leapt off the bar. 

Jack licked his lips, as if savoring the flavor and then threw a grin Reyes’ way. “Not bad,” he said, echoing Reyes’ earlier sentiment and meeting his wide-eyed gaze. His grin spread into a real smile as he saw the disbelief written across Reyes’ stunned face. 

_ He had done it! He had actually gotten one over on Gabriel Reyes! _

Swaggering, Jack marched through the crowd and off to the bathroom. He really  _ did _ have to take a leak, and he wanted a moment away to savor his victory. If his pants were a little tighter than normal, well, in the dim lighting it was barely noticeable.


	4. Sleeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs I listened to on repeat writing this fic:
> 
> Midnight City (Alcala Remix) - M83
> 
> Cola - Lana Del Rey

Jack returned to the bar a short while later. Things had taken a little longer than expected; for some reason he had a stubborn erection that had refused to die. 

He managed to get his rogue anatomy back on track by thinking about the mission. They had less than two weeks to gather conclusive, raid-worthy evidence, and all they had to show for it so far were some indistinct shots and a very embarrassing incident he hoped would  _ never  _ make it back to SEP. 

_ Get it together. _

He had let the wrong head get the better of him back there, and now there were probably  _ pictures _ of that floating around somewhere... _ damn. _

Jack almost had a heart attack when Reyes swooped out of the shadows and slipped an arm around his waist. Evidently he had been lying in wait.

"So, not as square as you look huh, Miles?" Reyes purred, pulling Jack tight to him. He seemed to have recovered from his shock; pressing so close that Jack could smell the lingering tang of citrus and tequila on his breath. 

"I've never  _ been _ square," Jack said, trying to extricate himself from Reyes' grip. "I played your little game, now can we focus on the mission?" 

"Ah-ah, we aren't done yet," Reyes insisted, "there's just one more thing we have to do."

Jack looked heavenward, sighing. He should have known that it wasn't over. There would always be  _ "just one more thing" _ with Reyes; it was all just one big game to him. Well, he was done. Despite his earlier victory, they were right back to square one.

"No, I'm out. You won, Vincent." This time he managed to pry Reyes' arm off him, and walked away.  

The only way to win Reyes' game was not to play. 

Quick steps took him through the crash doors and into the hall, one hand trailing along the wall to guide him. Halfway to the exit, a door banged open behind him, spilling a pale rectangle of light onto the opposite wall. A flurry of footsteps, then he was hug-tackled from behind. Muscular arms pinned him, naked skin and the tang of tequila leaving no question as to who it was.

" _ Reyes, _ " he growled, trying to buck out of the tight grip, "Get the hell off m-"

And then he was free. Reyes released him, only to spin him around and pull him into a loose embrace. The door creaked open behind them again.

"What are you doing?!" he grunted in Reyes' ear, clutching him tightly under the pretense of returning the embrace as a drunken duo weaved down the hall toward them. Keen to be ignored, Jack pulled Reyes into the corner and watched the two as they passed. Once they disappeared around the corner, he relaxed.

"Now just listen Jack," Reyes started, but Jack cut him off.

"Listen to what? You come up with more hoops for me to jump through? Waste more time that we don’t have?" He didn’t bother disguising his frustration. Let Reyes know how badly he’d fucked up; Jack could finish this without him. 

Reyes leaned into him, resting his head on Jack's shoulder. Warm breath tickled his ear.

"Look, Jack, you’re taking all this the wrong way."

"Yeah?"  _ Like he’d believe that. _ "How am I supposed to take it? You said all I had to do was one thing, and now you’re moving the goalposts. Seems pretty clear to me.” He shoved Reyes off him, but the other man only backed up a few inches, holding his palms up in surrender.

"Hey hey  _ tío, _ don’t get so worked up, I was just gonna suggest having a few shots.” Now Reyes had the audacity to sound offended, like Jack was the guilty party here. “Thought you’d want to do that anyway, in the interest of  _ plausible deniability _ when we try to infiltrate the back hall tonight.”

Shrouded in shadows, he couldn’t see Reyes’ expression anymore. He could only go by his words, which were surprising.

_ Drinking shots _ .  

_ Plausible deniability _ . 

_ Infiltrate the back hall tonight. _

That had been his plan more or less, minus the actual drinking. Maybe Reyes had paid attention to him before. Was it possible that he'd jumped the gun? His stomach curdled, soured by the prospect of such a miscalculation.

Silence spiraled between them, punctuated by the low throb of bass that vibrated all the way to his teeth. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.  _ The mission _ . He had to do what was best for the mission. 

He sighed. "Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes." Not wanting to dwell too long on his change of heart, he pushed further. "Run the plan by me."

The door whispered open, blasting them with a wave of sound. Jack pulled Reyes into him in a faux-embrace as more people trickled out. Reyes seemed to take this as an open invitation to nuzzle the crook of Jack's neck, then drag his mouth up to his ear in a motion that sent goosebumps prickling down Jack's arms.

"I was thinking we could knock a few shots back, then hit the dance floor until they've had time to "kick in". Doubt we're being watched, but it'll be enough to excuse us if anyone shows up when we go for the mark." 

Warmth enveloped Jack's earlobe as Reyes sucked it into his mouth. Drunken catcalls from passers-by were the only thing that kept him from freezing up entirely, his whole body sparking with sensation. The footsteps faded, leaving them in darkness again. Reyes pulled away.

"You gotta play up the drunkenness though. Really act like you're slammed so it’s believable."

Brain still chugging into gear, it took Jack a minute to register what Reyes had said. "Wait - why do  _ I _ have to be the one to pretending?" 

Rich and low, Reyes' laugh surprised him. "Do  _ you _ look like the kind of guy who would take advantage of a hot, drunk kid?" He could almost imagine Reyes gesturing at himself, showcasing the dark and almost-dangerous persona he'd built.

Maybe he did have a point.

"Okay, fine." Jack said, allowing himself to be escorted back to the bar. "But remember, we have to  _ focus  _ from now on _. _ "

Reyes flagged down the bartender, ordering a flurry of shots that Jack could barely understand. When the drinks arrived, he lined them up neatly, eight squat glasses gleaming on the dark wood.

_ Eight?  _

Four clear, one a cloudy yellow, two multilayered brown with what looked like whipped cream on top,  and the other an opaque amber. Reyes took the clear shot for himself, throwing his head back and swallowing without even blinking.

Reyes must really have high hopes for his tolerance. He’s never done much with hard liquor; hopefully the enhancements extend to his liver or else this could turn out badly.

Not wanting to betray his doubts, Jack picked up one too and threw it back. It slid down his gullet like greased lightning, singing his nostrils and making him want to sneeze. He swallowed uncomfortably, feeling it sitting like a hot rock in his stomach. There hadn’t been much of a taste beyond the overpowering flavor of straight ethanol. How strong were these?

“What’re those?” he asked, stifling a cough as he pointed to the whipped-cream topped shots. “They look kind of weird.” 

“Ah, Jackie you’ve never had a Blow Job?” Reyes said, and pushed one of the shots towards him. “They’re pretty tasty.”

_ A blow job? _

Jack prepared to drink it, but Reyes stayed his hand.

“No, this is part of the experience!” He pulled his own drink to him. “You’re supposed to take it like this.” Reyes bent, opened his mouth wide and picked the glass up with his lips, tilting his head back and letting the drink wash down his throat effortlessly. A small rill of off-white liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth.

_ Oh. _

“See?” Plucking the empty glass from his mouth, Reyes licked his lips and rubbed the offending wetness across the back of his hand. “Now you try.”

“Uh...” Jack looked at his own shot uncomfortably. He didn’t really want to try this in front of anyone, let alone Reyes; there was no way he wouldn’t make a fool of himself. But Reyes  _ had _ done it first...

Best just to do it quickly. 

Jack bent down over his shot as he had seen Reyes do and opened his mouth just wide enough to slide down over the glass. He didn’t want to see Reyes watching him, so he squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he threw his head back.

_ Oh crap.  _

He wasn’t prepared for the gush of liquid at the back of his throat. Swallowing frantically, a trickle of alcohol tickled his vocal cords. He couldn’t get it all down before that tickle turned into a cough, and he cupped his hands to catch both the glass and the spray of liquor as it exploded out of his mouth.

Reyes laughed and slapped his back as he coughed, then handed him a bundle of napkins. “Good first attempt! Swallowing gets easier with practice.” 

Jack cleared his throat, rubbing his tongue over the roof of his mouth to try to get rid of some of the bitter coffee flavor. He mopped at his mouth and nose, sinuses stinging from the assault.  _ No more of that. _

Reyes took two the remaining clear shots in quick succession with no sign that the alcohol was affecting him in the slightest. “Alright, the rest are for you.” He pushed the remaining drinks to Jack, who regarded them warily. Yellow and amber; very different from what Reyes had been drinking. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

Gingerly Jack picked the yellow shot next without questioning what it was and dumped the whole thing in his mouth. His tongue was assaulted by a lemon flavor so strong it probably could have stripped paint, and he had to swallow it down in three breathless gulps before the fumes choked him.

"Jeez, was that? Furniture polish?" he gasped, smacking his lips with a grimace. He shouldn't have let Reyes order the drinks. What was he thinking?

"Ah c'mon," Reyes chided, pushing the last shot towards him. "It wasn't that bad. Just think of it as taking your medicine. Try this one, I think you'll like it better."

Delicately Jack lifted the last shot to his nose, taking a sniff. If it singed his nose hairs, he would insist that Reyes drink it instead. It didn’t though; there was the sharp edge of alcohol, but mostly it just smelled like cinnamon and apples. 

He tipped it back. It was strong and had a bit of a kick, but was much more palatable than the other shots. It was also much harder to swallow; it had a thick, almost glutinous texture that coated his mouth and tongue, drowning out the remaining lemony aftertaste.

"Apple pie shot," Reyes said in answer to Jack's curious look. "Thought you might like that one."

“Yeah, it was good.” Jack said, smacking his lips. He would have to remember that one. “We gonna dance now?” 

“Sure.”

The dance floor was full, a crush of writhing bodies undulating in a haze of smoke. Jack found himself watching the crowd, mesmerized by the complex interplay of indigo light and shadows before Reyes’ tugging hand pulled him into the melee. Anchored by those grasping fingers, Jack let himself be led to the edge of the dance floor closest to the hall. It was more spacious on the fringes, and over Reyes’ shoulder he had a good view of the yawning darkness of the hall.  _ It was so damn close. _

“Ready?” Reyes had his hands on Jack’s waist, his crotch nestled firmly to Jack’s ass.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go!” 

With a low laugh, Reyes coaxed them into an easy, rocking rhythm.

They hadn’t been dancing long before Jack could feel the alcohol taking effect. It began with heat creeping across his face, making the skin there feel swollen and almost tingly. His eyes felt too big for his skull.

The alcohol also seemed to have the strange effect of making dancing easier. Jack found that he cared less and less about any watching eyes the longer they danced. His limbs swung, loose and heavy as he let the beat pulse through him, potent and frantic as his own racing heart. 

Jack closed his eyes, leaning back. He could feel Reyes, the heat of his body against Jack’s back, the friction of his crotch driving firmly into the swell of Jack’s buttocks. Hot fingers were tugging at his shirt, lifting it so that Reyes could trace along the vee of hips, tantalizingly close to his groin. His cock twitched, interested.

_ When had that happened? _

Jack’s eyes flew open as Reyes splayed a hand across the skin just over his waistline, using the added leverage to grind himself hard against the cleft of Jack’s ass. Was he imagining the bulge he felt there?

“Uh,” he croaked. His head felt like an over-inflated balloon, his mind floating somewhere high above the surging crowd. Everything was blurry but somehow brighter in patches, like an overexposed photo.

Jack broke the rhythm of the dance long enough to turn so that he was now facing Reyes, the movement causing the room to whirl briefly as his brain lagged behind his eyes. Boldly he grabbed him, sliding their thighs together so that they knit like two pieces of a puzzle. There was no question now; Reyes was hard too. Sensation flared, sharp and delicious they rocked together, and he had to bite his tongue to hold back a moan. 

“ _ Damn,  _ Jackie.”

Jack opened his eyes, not realizing at first that they had slipped shut. Inches from Reyes’ face, he saw that the other man was flushed, his pupils dilated. His lips were parted, and Jack noticed for the first time how full they were. Reyes had a nice mouth. Very kissable.

_ Where did  _ that _ come from? _

Confused by his own feelings, Jack dipped his face into the hollow of Reyes’ neck, breathing in the sweet-spicy scent of his skin. Pleasure flared again, a knot of tension in his belly that built the longer danced. It felt nice.  _ Really _ nice. It was natural that he wanted more, right?

He panted against Reyes skin, whimpering his pleasure at each flare of sensation until a real moan broke through his tight control. With a low growl, Reyes hooked his hands under Jack’s buttocks and  _ lifted _ him. Jack instinctively clutched at his shoulders and squeezed Reyes’ waist with his thighs so he didn’t fall. Reyes carried them into the dimly-lit back hall and around a corner, and the world spun as Jack was slammed against the wall.

Then Reyes was at his throat. 

He could feel the blunt edge of' teeth against his flesh, pressure that sent a lick of fire straight to his groin. He was so distracted by it at first that he didn't register that Reyes was speaking. 

"-probably cameras back here, so look around as best you can while I give them a show. Play along, and we'll switch spots in a couple minutes."

Oh, right. The mission.

"O-okay," Jack breathed, trying to get his head back on straight. The mission. He had to look around. Fumbling for his sunglasses, he pulled them off his collar and slipped them on, pushing them up into his hair. There, now he could take pictures- 

Reyes mouth descended on him, warm lips mouthing along the junction of his neck and shoulder, thoroughly distracting him. He tilted his head, instinctively offering more skin for that mouth to sample, his eyes sliding shut.

_ Keep looking around _ . 

The mission. Intel. Right.

Okay, two doors across the hall. Keypads instead of handles, tight security. It was gonna be hard to break through without a code.  _ Hard _ , ha. Maybe he could drill through them with his cock. He felt hard enough to bend titanium.

Stifling an asinine giggle, Jack craned his head a little further to look at the door next to him, and as he did Reyes sank his teeth into the muscular cord of his neck. A white-hot jolt of pure pleasure spiked straight through him, tearing an involuntary gasp through his lips. His hands flew to Reyes' hair, holding the older mans' mouth there while Jack writhed and panted beneath him. 

_ Oh god oh god oh god- _

His brain short-circuited. If Reyes hadn't slipped a meaty thigh between his legs, he would have fallen to the floor, knees too weak to stand. As it was all he could do was hang on for dear life, trying futilely to hang onto the shreds of his coherency.

He was hardly aware of the sounds spilling from his mouth, not until Reyes unlatched himself and growled in his ear, "Pipe down Miles, I know I said put on a show but it sounds like a fuckin' orgy back here."

Reyes was being mean again 

 "Sh-shut up!" Jack said, trying to get his wobbly legs back under him.

"You’re the one who needs to shut it, Ja- _ Miles _ . Never thought you’d be one to scream like a banshee." 

“I don’t scream!”

“Yeah, you do,” Reyes said, using a hand to tilt Jack's head the other way. "See?" He leaned in, sucking hard at the jumping muscle and sending another bolt of pleasure straight to Jack's overloaded brain. 

There was someone making a sound, but Jack could hardly care who it was. Reeling under the dual onslaught on his neck and groin, he lost all semblance of pretending this was for the mission. He focused his attention on the easiest bit if Reyes he could reach - his earlobe. He nibbled at the soft flap of skin, sucking and teasing at it before letting it slip from his mouth with a wet  _ schlip _ . He wanted more.

Winding his fingers through Reyes' hair, Jack pulled him off and pushed him, intent on switching places. He must've misjudged his strength, because Reyes hit the wall with a thud and bounced. 

"Sorry," Jack said, swaying a little as he lurched forward and grabbed Reyes by the shoulders. The ground seemed to be swaying.

"Are you  _ drunk _ ?" Reyes said, squinting at him. It was good that he was still cute when he frowned, he did that a lot. He was going to have a wrinkle if he kept doing it. Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to that dark line, and then remembered Reyes had asked him a question.

"Not drunk," he said, "just-just tipsy. Don't worry 'bout it, it's all part of the plan."

Reyes still looked confused, maybe even a bit worried. That was okay. Jack had just the thing to help. 

He wanted to kiss Reyes, but if they were kissing they couldn't talk. They needed to talk to communicate the plan. Instead he decided to give Reyes a taste of his own medicine; sucking hard at his neck, thrilling in the feel of muscle flexing beneath his lips as he was grabbed tightly.

"Shit, what-" 

Reyes had a dirty mouth. He wasn't moaning enough for Jack's liking, and Jack needed to fix that. Jack moved his mouth lower, licking at the hard bump of Reyes' collarbones before moving on.

Flat and chocolate-colored, Reyes' nipples peeked through the thick forest of fur covering his chest and belly. Jack teased one, then the other, intent on paying Reyes back for the body shot debacle. His hands spread wide, trailing over Reyes' pecs, down his abs, combing through the coarse blanket of hair until he was kneeling, hands splayed on either side of Reyes' hips. He leaned in, rubbing his cheek on Reyes' belly. He was so damn  _ hairy _ , it was amazing. Soft. Jack couldn't grow hair like that.

At this level he was nose-to-crotch with Reyes, and in his periphery he saw the door keypad. The mission, yes. But first -

Jack nuzzled the hard bulge in Reyes' pants, nose tracing the outline of his cock through the leather. Miles above him, Reyes breathed out a curse. His fingers fumbled to unbutton Reyes' pants, and as he did Reyes' hands move to cup his groin protectively. 

" _ Jack _ ," he whispered frantically, " _ what are you doing?! _ "

Now it was Jack’s turn to frown. It was like Reyes didn’t trust him at all. 

"Doin' the plan," he said, batting Reyes' hands away. Wait, that wasn’t quite right.  _ Whatever _ . "Trust me."

He finally managed to slip the button, and there was the soft  _ prrrr _ of Reyes’ zipper as it opened itself, unable to withstand the pressure. Reyes' cock popped out, contained only by a thin layer of black cotton fabric. 

_ Oh yes. _

Briefly, he glanced again at the locked door again. The keypad was a flat black, reminding him a little of the display of a microwave. It would be hard to break in there with no code. Too hard. And it wasn’t the only hard thing. 

He could do something about one of those problems.

Jack leaned in, burying his face in Reyes’ crotch. It pressed against his cheek, a warm bar of steel that pulsed in time with Reyes’ heartbeat. And that  _ smell _ ; Jack felt his mouth watering. Rich leather, the salty, almost pungent musk of sweaty flesh, and the faint tang of spicy sweetness that might’ve been Reyes’ body wash. He sniffed hard and felt Reyes’ cock jump, and squeezed his thighs together when he felt his own twitch in answer. Reyes breathed a curse, and then another when Jack dragged his nose up his flesh, scenting it like it was a fine cigar. 

What would it taste like?

When Jack cupped a hand over that hard swelling and stroked it firmly, he heard a creaking sound and looked around. Reyes had gripped the doorframe with one hand and squeezed it tightly, causing the wood to protest. His hand was right next to the keypad, almost touching it. 

Looking closer, Jack saw how dirty the keypad was. There were fingerprints smudging the glossy surface, like tens of sticky fingers had touched it. What kind of stuff did people have on their fingers? _ Gross. _

Jack felt a hint of a thought, a spark of some understanding, but it slipped away when he tried to grab it. Well, maybe it hadn’t been that important. More important was the heat beating urgently beneath his palm. He dragged his fingers firmly down Reyes’ cock again, feeling them catch at the ridged head. Reyes rocked his hips forward, demanding. 

Without knowing what Reyes liked, he would have to guess. It wouldn’t be hard though, there wasn’t much that could go wrong with a blow job, right? 

Jack gave him one last gentle squeeze, then pulled Reyes’ pants down to his knees. More freedom, more access. 

_ Access _ . 

If only they could get into that room. He eyed the keypad one last time regretfully, and then the spark was back. 

Dirty keypad. People’s fingerprints. What numbers were they over? 

He looked again. All the fingerprints clustered over the numbers 7, 3, 0 and the ENTER button.  _ Could it be? _ But, they had no idea how long the passcode was. It could be days before they could break through. 

Jack reached out, tapping 3, then 7, the 0, and finally ENTER.

“Wha? What are you-” Reyes had noticed him playing with the keypad just as Jack pressed the last button. He swatted Jack’s hand away, but it was too late. The keypad beeped softly, a green light glowed and then there was the unmistakable  _ snick _ of a bolt sliding back.

For a second they stared at each other, wide-eyed. 

Then there was a mad scramble for the handle. Jack reached it first but Reyes tripped over his pants and flattened him. Jack, having not let go of the handle, ended up pushing the door open as they fell and landed in a tangle of limbs.

Dizzy, Jack squirmed out from under Reyes and crawled into the room. Barely a second behind him, Reyes scrambled to his feet and pulled his pants up, growling in frustration as his erection interfered with the process. By the time he had managed to button himself up, Jack had regained his feet and was advancing into the room cautiously. 

It was dark, silent. No one was there.

“Ja-ngh- _ Miles _ , you crazy bastard!” Reyes whispered. “ _ How did you figure that out _ ?”

Unsure of how best to articulate his thought process, Jack chewed his lip. He decided on the simplest answer. 

“Your dick told me.”

Reyes threw up his hands in disgust. "I knew it! You  _ are _ drunk! Man, if I had known you were such a lightweight I wouldn't have ordered so many shots!"

Shots, schmotz. Why did it matter now anyway? They were in. 

"Don' worry about it," he told Reyes and then began fumbling for his phone. It was dark in here. He could use the flashlight to see. His pockets were small, his pants, already slim-fit, were straining at the crotch. He had finally managed to get his phone free when the lights clicked on. Reyes had found the switch, and the brightness was dazzling, sending two needles of pain right into his tender brain. 

"Ow!" he slapped a hand over his eyes, willing the pain to go away. His hand was a lot heavier than he remembered.

Behind him Reyes sighed. " _ Dios mío." _

When Jack opened his eyes again, they were watering. He rubbed the tears away to behold the sight they'd been working towards for days now:

It was a bed. 

A bed bigger than the one in his hotel room, but not much fancier. It had an off-white comforter with a floral pattern, faded gray sheets and a scratched wooden headboard. There was also a nightstand, a lamp and a wastebasket; sparse furnishings that all look old and abused. And dirty. There was definitely a stain or ten on the comforter.

"This is it?" Reyes muttered under his breath, swinging his head back and forth like he expected something to spring into being. 

That was it.  _ Guess Lex was right. _

Jack fumbled for his sunglasses and snapped a few pictures for posterity's sake while Reyes ransacked the room, pulling back the comforter, lifting the mattress, looking under the bed frame, opening the nightstand and recoiling with a disgusted groan.

Jack wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. Inside the drawer he saw several murky bottles of what was either lube or lotion, a flesh-colored dildo, a rubber ring, and a chain of purple balls on a string. He took a picture of that, too.

" _ Mierda _ , what a waste!" Reyes groused, trying and failing to kick the drawer shut. "I can't believe it."

"We could try the other door," Jack said, pulling the drawer open further. He wanted a better picture of the contents, if for no reason other than to give them something to talk about at HQ. He flicked the switch on the lamp, intent on getting better lighting, but it was dead. He flipped it again, and there was a split-second flash of light before it went out. He toggled the switch repeatedly, getting longer bursts of light each time until Reyes elbowed him and told him to quit it. 

Jack abandoned the lamp. They were halfway to the door before he heard a  _ thunk _ and an electric whirring sound from behind. Turning his head he saw the bed sliding away from the wall, an entire section of the shaved carpet moving to reveal a dark hole. 

"Um, Reyes-" Jack began, but Reyes had already turned. They peered into the hole, which Jack realized wasn't actually a hole. It was a stairway, with dozens of small stone steps leading down into the yawning blackness. 

"How did you…" Reyes started, then trailed off. Something was going on in his face. Jack could see shock, disbelief, and something else dancing behind those brown eyes. He leaned closer, trying to figure out what it was. It was only when Reyes grabbed him that he realized: it was  _ suspicion _ .

A thick arm snaked around his neck, the other pressing firmly against his shoulders. Bound in a choke hold, all Jack could do was gasp as Reyes flexed his arm, the bulge of his muscles compressing Jack’s trachea.

"Stcckp!" he sputtered, arms flailing, trying to find a weak point. His head felt like an over-inflated water balloon. Any second now he would pop.

"Who are you working for?" Reyes breathed in his ear, low and dangerous. He relaxed his arm just enough for blood and breath to flow, and Jack coughed.

"Who? W-what? Reyes, I don't know what yo-" Jack started, but Reyes choked him off again.

"Cut the shit,  _ Morrison _ . In asking  _ who you work for _ . Is it Talon? Zero Sum? The Russians?" He shook Jack for emphasis, and Jack could feel pain like a shard of bone spearing him in the throat. It felt like something might snap. Desperate, he wrapped both hands around Reyes’ neck, trying to pull it loose. All training had gone out the window. 

It didn't work.

Again Reyes eased up on him, long enough for Jack to take a few gulping breaths. The gears finally snapped into place, and he realized: Reyes thought he was a  _ sleeper agent _ .

Why?

_ Jack, reaching out to type the unknown passcode while he's on his knees in front of Reyes' crotch. _

_ Jack, playing with the lamp, the bed sliding away to reveal the secret passage. _

Duh. That had to be it. But, how could he convince Reyes that his dumb, drunk luck was just that?

"M'not a spy!" Jack grated out, trying the most obvious argument first. 

No luck. His throat was constricted again, and gray spots began appearing at the edges of his vision.

"Wrong answer, Jackie. Try again." 

Panting and coughing, Jack tried to wrack his brain.  _ How? _ There wasn't a single thing he could think of that would erase Reyes' doubts in one swoop. He was about to try another variation of his last answer when the electronic buzzing started up again. The bed was sliding back into place.

With a hissed swear, Reyes twitched behind him, torn. Would he set Jack free?

No such luck. Reyes spun around and dragged Jack backwards swiftly, down the stairs into the dark passage below. Blind, still clutching at Reyes' arm, Jack tried to wriggle free. He’d almost take falling down the stairs over this! 

Reyes didn’t let up. Instead his grip tightened, unrelenting, and Jack felt himself fade away.


	5. You ready?

Blearily, the world came back, and with it confusion. Why was his throat so sore? Why did his knees hurt? There was a hard, unpleasant pressure in his arms. 

Jack opened his eyes. Someone had arms wrapped around his chest, hooked under his armpits. He hung limp, heels bouncing off each step and sending jolts of pain up into his knees. Why? 

_ Reyes thought he was a sleeper agent. _

The memory flooded back, and with it so did his panic. He struggled in Reyes’ grip, wriggling hard enough that they both nearly went down the stairs. 

Reyes dropped him. Above him, Jack saw the last sliver of light winking out of view as the bed slid back into place, and then they were in darkness. He had only been out for a few seconds then. 

Something sharp pressed into the back of his neck.

A light flickered on overhead, illuminating a stone corridor. He couldn't see anything but the walls and the metal ceiling; no way of escape but down. Right where Reyes was. There was no question that he had a knife to his back, and his mind blurred with panic. He needed Reyes to let to believe him! 

"Reyes!" he rasped, "listen to me, okay?"

"Give me one good reason to, Morrison." 

One good reason?  _ How? _ The fact that they were both thoroughly vetted members of the Soldier Enhancement Program wasn't enough? He was sure that anything he could say wouldn’t be enough. And he didn't have any "good" explanation for what had just happened. The truth was well - it was unbelievably stupid. Stupid  _ luck _ . He had nothing but the truth though, so he went for it.

"Because - it was all luck! Dumb, fucking luck!"  _ Well, entering the right passcode had been luck. Finding the right numbers hadn't been _ . 

Wait.

The knife pressed a little harder, hard enough that he feared it was breaking skin. Before it could sink deeper, Jack elaborated: "The keypad! I found the right numbers because it was dirty!"

Reyes didn’t dig any harder, but neither did he withdraw the blade. "What?"

"Keypad! It was dirty where people touched it. That's why I knew which numbers!" Something warm dripped down his back; blood or sweat he couldn’t tell.

"Yeah? Well, how did you know how long the code was? Or what order to put the numbers in?" Reyes pressed, and Jack groaned inwardly. He didn't have an answer for that.

"I don't know! I just  _ guessed _ , and it worked." 

Silence from Reyes. His heart was hammering so hard that it pulsed in his eardrums. Could Reyes feel it?

"And the lamp?" Reyes said finally.

"Reyes, I don't know! It was an accident!" Jack said. He couldn’t even make that one make sense. It had been such pure, unadulterated luck. "I wanted the damn lamp on so I could get a better picture of the drawer, and it seemed like it would work if I kept hitting the switch, so-"

The point withdrew. It was so unexpected that he sagged in relief, almost going to his knees before remembering that Reyes was still behind him with a blade. He flinched away, retreating a few paces up the stairs to rub at the spot and glare balefully down at Reyes. His fingers felt tacky, and when he withdrew them he saw red seeped into the whorls of his fingertip.

He didn't blame him for his suspicion, not really. But was it really necessary to whip out a knife? 

They sat like that for a moment, two pawns at opposite ends of a chessboard. Reyes was the first to break the stalemate, pocketing his knife.

"So, what convinced you?" Jack asked, descending the steps grudgingly but still keeping his distance. All traces of his drunkenness had been smashed, obliterated by his adrenaline spike and superhuman liver. Reyes was still watching him, but the suspicion in his eyes was gone.

"No spy would be as careless as you," Reyes said with a snort. "Letting yourself get wrapped up like that."

Oh, so it wasn't anything he  _ said _ to convince Reyes.

"Also, you're the world's worst liar. Easy to tell that you weren't lying once you got to running your mouth."

"If you hadn't kept choking me you could've figured that out faster!" Jack rubbed his fingers together, trying to dislodge the flecks of blood. His throat was still sore; hopefully it wouldn’t bruise.

"Sorry about that.” Reyes said, not sounding sorry at all.

_ Ugh. _

One of Reyes’ statements did bother him though. "How do you know that I'm a bad liar?"

Reyes began to descend the steps and Jack followed him, still lagging behind. "Remember when you told Clark and Morgans that you weren't a virgin?"

_ What? That had been a private conversation!  _

A casual, shooting-the-shit conversation between him, his roommate Emmanuel Clark and another squad-mate, James Morgans. They’d been up late one night, Emmanuel and James trading swigs from a contraband flask of rum. The question had come, and the look in their eyes had been so  _ expectant _ \- but how the hell could Reyes know? He hadn’t been there, had he?

“Where  _ you creeping outside my door?” _

"Your voice went up like, two octaves." Reyes said, completely ignoring the accusation.

Jack was too busy floundering under the knowledge that Reyes had been _listening in_ on him to notice that they hit the landing until he was standing on it. He restrained the urge to explode, choosing instead to inspect the door before them. It was large, solidly-built, and even from here Jack heard the mechanical whirring and churning of something enormous behind it.

He reached for the knob, but Reyes got in the way.

"Oh no,  _ I'm  _ going in first."

Jack rolled his eyes but let him go. He hunched behind Reyes, wishing for a gun, a knife - any weapon really - as the older man pushed the door open. 

“Well, shit.” 

He barely heard Reyes breathe the words over the wave of noise that flowed over them, but  _ shit _ was right. The room was  _ huge _ . Jack should have expected that - the club occupied only a fraction of the buildings on the block, after all - but seeing it was so much more overwhelming than thinking about it. High-ceilinged, as large as a football field. Inside sleek machines hummed, conveyor belts rolled, metal arms shifted and twisted, gleaming dully under the fluorescent lights. It was a production plant. 

Jack barely remembered to begin snapping pictures as they went inside, turning his head to and fro to capture as much of the room as he could with each shot. 

There was so  _ much _ to see. Jack didn't even know where to start. He watched the conveyor belts roll by, the same component centered on each of them. It was small, whatever it was. If he had to peg it, Jack thought it looked a lot like a circuit board. 

Were the brains of omnics being produced here?

Well, this was certainly going to be enough for the government to act on. As long as they made it back, they’d accomplished their mission with flying colors. Was there anything else to find here? Any extra was just icing on the cake.

There were many branching 'corridors' among the network of machinery. Jack tapped on Reyes' shoulder at the junction of the first one, indicating that he wanted to go a different direction, but Reyes shook his head. 

"We need to stick together. If something happens in here I don't want to have to guess at whether you need help.” 

It was a logical move, but it still meant investigating the place would take twice as long. Instead of wasting time arguing, Jack merely nodded.

They combed the place as quickly as they could, inspecting the machinery, taking pictures of serial numbers and barcodes and anything else that looked important. Finally, on the far wall catty-corner to the door they found a set of computer terminals. The screens were dark, but the towers hummed and churned with heat. Were these the brains of the machinery?

Jack took a picture. Next to him, Reyes eyed the stations and paced back and forth, clearly wrestling with something.

"What do you want to do?" Jack said. "Destroy them?"

" _ Destroy them _ ?" Reyes stared at him like he was an idiot. "No, we need to leave them alone. When the feds take this place down they're going to seize them, probably squeeze out some juicy names, and that'll be it," he paused, tapping a finger against his chin. "I just wish we could get some names now." He reached out and tapped the display of the monitor closest to him with a knuckle. It winked into life, displaying a blue login screen. 

"Got any more of that 'drunk luck'?" he said, bumping Jack's shoulder.

"I'm not drunk anymore, but I can try," Jack said, reaching for the keyboard. 

"No, no no don't  _ actually _ try it!" Reyes stopped him before he could touch anything. "I was just joking! Leaving our fingerprints is  _ no bueno _ . Besides, we don't know what could happen if we screw the passwords up. Lots of operations like this have a dead man's switch built into their software. We could wipe the whole thing if we-"

Head angled towards Reyes, Jack caught the faintest click over the ambient mechanical hum and turned his head just in time to see two people coming through the same door they had entered through. Instinctively he grabbed Reyes arm, crouching and yanking him down to the floor. 

Tapping Reyes' chest he pointed towards the door with two fingers, indicating the arrival of the strangers. Reyes understood instantly, nodding his acknowledgement. He flicked his hands in two easily identifiable symbols:  _ stay or go?  _

It was impossible to tell without knowing the new arrival’s destination. Peering over the body of a machine, Jack found them again. Unfortunately, it seemed like they were making a beeline straight for the computer terminals; he swept his hand in a horizontal chopping motion:  _ no time. _

He cast around for a place to hide. Fighting here was the fastest way to disaster, and he’d be damned if he’d done all this work for nothing.

There was a dark hollow beneath the conveyor belt, extending between the legs of the machinery. Jack dove for it. It was just barely wide enough to fit his shoulders; he scooted backwards into the niche, hunching as to not bang his head. Reyes was hot on his heels, wedging himself against Jack so that they ended up situated like two kids on a sled pressed chest to back.

Seated as they were, Jack couldn't see anything except the back of Reyes' head and a slice of light silhouetting the edge of the machinery. Likewise, motion was extremely limited. He couldn’t lean forward for a look without bending Reyes in half. Jack tucked his chin against Reyes shoulder, situating his mouth right next to Reyes’ ear. "Can you see anything?"

Reyes shrugged and see-sawed a hand, which Jack took to mean 'a little'. 

With some difficulty, Jack pulled his sunglasses off his head and poked them over to Reyes. "Can you try to get a picture of whoever it is?" He was hoping that the strangers had stopped to log in at the computers. If so, they had a good chance of getting a decent shot of them. Reyes took the sunglasses, and Jack guided his finger to the small button on the frame, indicating the trigger mechanism. 

With Reyes effectively handling their only option at the moment, all Jack could do was wait. It wasn't very pleasant, crammed in there. The machinery was warm, heating up the cramped space as efficiently as a space heater. Reyes was warm too, his bare back pressing tightly to Jack's chest and belly. Why, oh why hadn’t he gotten his vest back before they did this?

Tan, bare skin was all that he could see. It was all that he could smell; the umami saltiness of sweat, the smoky tang of leather and something musky that was uniquely Reyes melded with the electric smell of hot metal. Inexplicably, he felt his cock twitching to life.

_ Why now? _

It couldn't be helped. All his cock cared about was the warm body pressed against him, and with this closeness there was no way that Reyes wouldn't feel it. Indeed, Jack felt the other man stiffen as Jack’s cock gave a particularly strong throb against his butt cheeks. He tried to push his hips back to give Reyes room, but there was nowhere to go; his movement resulted in nothing but awkward rubbing. 

_ God, I hope he doesn’t think I’m doing this on purpose. _

There was a flash of motion right in front of his nose. For a second he didn't realize what it was, but after a few blinks he realized it was his sunglasses. Reyes was passing them back. Did that mean the strangers had gone?

"They're gone?" he whispered, but Reyes shook his head. He made some hand signals that Jack couldn't make out in the dim lighting.

"What?"

Reyes craned his head back and Jack angled his ear towards him. "I said they're talking. Can't hear what it's about, but I think they suspect something." 

"Can we make a break for it?" Jack asked. They could potentially slip out to the other side of this machine, dodge the strangers and escape before they were noticed. He was sure he had seen an exit sign down one of the corridors.

"Wait for a sec."

Waiting sucked. Jack was sweating in earnest now, the first traces of a headache creeping behind his eyes. The pain flared dully with each thump if his heart, a strange counterpoint to the throbbing pressure in his groin. The SEP may have gifted him with a metabolism good enough to chew through strong alcohol in less than half an hour, but it didn't negate his need for water. 

After several long minutes Reyes tapped Jack's knee and made a fluttering motion with his fingers.  _ Time to move. _

Jack followed, scooting gratefully out into the corridor on the opposite side of the computer terminals. Reyes was still crouched, so Jack stayed low as well. Tapping two fingers to his shoulders, Reyes pointed down the corridor and to the left. The strangers had gone that way. 

Reyes lead the way down the conveyor belt. They followed the line of busily cycling components all the way to the end, and then paused to peer around the corner. Jack could see the retreating backs of two people in typical club wear; a shorter, sandy-haired person and a taller figure with long black hair in a low ponytail.

Jack snapped a photo. Hopefully Reyes had gotten better pictures of their faces, it would be hard to ID them from their hair alone. Black-hair pulled a door open. Jack knew from their cursory look-through earlier that it was the exit. They were almost in the clear. 

It was at that moment that black-hair glanced over his shoulder. Jack and Reyes pulled their heads back, but it was too late. Jack had seen the stranger’s eyes widen. 

"Shit, he saw us!" 

Reyes punched a hand back down the corridor. "Let's go!" 

It was hard to run quickly  _ and _ quietly. It was even harder to run in a hunched-over position, but Jack managed. He cut loose, not throttling any of his superhuman speed. Stride lengthened, he dove around the corner of a corridor to see Reyes already there, crouched and alert. 

"The just turned the corner. I don’t think we were fast enough, golden boy." He sounded rueful, but not overly concerned. Inside, Jack was panicking. 

"They're coming this way," Reyes said, edging towards the next corridor. "Ready to give ‘em the slip?" 

Jack nodded, scrambling to his feet and then they were off again. Across two corridors and then straight down the one that lead directly to the exit, Reyes hauling the door open with one smooth twist of his wrist. There wasn't any sight of the other men as the door slammed shut, but they weren't done yet. 

The exit spat them out into a dirty alleyway cluttered with garbage bins and a fire escape, gritty puddles of water collecting along the seams of the building. Sometime that evening it had begun to rain. 

Reyes ran straight up the opposite wall, jumping for the fire escape where he landed with a clang. Jack followed, cursing his shitty fashionable shoes for the lack of tread when his foot skidded on the last step. He fell just short of his mark, gut hitting the rail instead of vaulting seamlessly over but rolled with it, somersaulting and landing on his ass.

"Smooth," Reyes said, hauling Jack to his feet. "Need me to carry you the rest of the way?" 

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed past him up the rickety steps, racing until he hit the roof of the building. Once there he stopped and stood perched over the edge of the building, watching the exit from above. No motion. Reyes squatted next to him and they waited together, until at last the door opened and sandy-haired and ponytail walked out.

"Dunno who it was," sandy-haired was saying. "Looked like another clubbie. Maybe paranoid, thought we were the feds?"

"Could have been," ponytail answered. " As long as he didn't get a good look at us, I don't care."

The two men made their way down the alley, heading for the street while Jack and Reyes followed along from above.

"I'll drop a line to J.P. anyway," sandy-hair said, "let him know some weird shit went down tonight."

_ JP?  _

Jack filed that detail away for later.

As the men hit the sidewalk they split, sandy-hair heading back towards the club entrance while ponytail headed south towards a busy intersection. Then they were gone, swallowed up into the night.

"Well, damn. I hope that's enough for SEP to work with," Jack said hanging his sunglasses carefully from the collar of his shirt again. He couldn't wait to get back to his laptop. He had pages of things to write! 

Still buzzing on the tail of his adrenaline rush, he turned to Reyes and grinned. "Not bad for a night's work, huh?'

Reyes rolled his shoulders. "Pretty  _ serendipitous _ evening in my books but who fuckin' cares. We got what we came for." He went back to the fire escape and clambered down the side like a monkey, landing with a splash in a puddle below. "You want a ride? I'm parked on this street."

"Nah, my car's in front of the club. Not too far of a walk." He jumped from the ladder, sending a wave up water onto his socks. A sore throat and wet, clammy feet; not how he had wanted to end today.

"Oh. Well, I just figured you wouldn't want anyone seeing you walk around with your balls out, but whatever."

Jack looked down, and then went red. The cold water hadn't been the only reason he was chilled; the center seam of his pants had ripped right up to the zipper and his underwear was hanging through the hole. Had that happened during their escape flight?

_ Of all the shitty _ -

Jack adjusted himself, pulling his boxers so that he was covered but there was no help for the massive hole in his skinny jeans. They were finished. Just as well, because he never wanted to wear them again.

"Okay, fine, I will take a ride then." 

Reyes lead him down the alley and in the direction ponytail had gone, jaywalked across the street and to his car. Jack noted with some envy that it looked like Reyes had been given a nicer ride; new, sleek, black, leather interior. He had something similar in silver, but no leather. 

As soon as Reyes started the car Jack felt movement against his back, and realized that Reyes had built-in massagers into his seats as well! That just wasn't fair. It didn't stop him from leaning into it though, breathing out a sigh as Reyes the rollers stroked between his shoulders.

"Feeling tense?" Reyes asked, pulling smoothly onto the street.

Jack cracked one eye at him, having not realized that they had slid shut. "Yeah, being crammed in tight places and then running for my life really does a number on my back." 

Okay, maybe he had exaggerated that last part.

"Did they make you a super soldier or super geriatric, golden boy?" 

Reyes was poking at him again. Trying to get a rise out of him. But Jack was getting wise to his' tricks now, and just ignored him.

"Gotta say, I'm feeling pretty tense too. Mind if I rub one out real quick?"

This time Jack's eyes flew open. " _ What?!" _ He looked over to see Reyes stroking the full crotch of his pants with one hand, the other still on the wheel. 

"What?" Reyes said innocently. "After the night I've had, I need a little release. Besides, a little danger really gets my blood pumping." 

Jack goggled at him, unable to keep his eyes from flickering southward. The heavy-lidded gaze Reyes was giving him told him that the other man knew  _ exactly _ what he was doing. 

"W-what? No! Just wait ‘til you get back to your hotel!" Jack squawked, averting his eyes. Well, mostly averting his eyes. As usual, Reyes didn't listen to him. 

"No better time than the present," said Reyes, deftly turning a corner even as he gave himself a little squeeze. Jack's cock, which so far had been diverted by his adrenaline rush twitched as though Reyes had reached right into his lap and gripped  _ him _ . His whole body jumped as Reyes drifted slightly into the other lane and then corrected his path sharply.

"Pay attention to the road!" he snapped, reaching over to push Reyes' hand away from his lap. When he did, Reyes caught his hand deftly and held it to the swell of his groin. There was wiggle room; Jack could have pulled back if he wanted to. Reyes held his hand for a moment, then let go. The ball was in Jack's court now.

Heat and steel pulsed hungrily beneath his palm. Reyes  _ wanted _ this. They weren’t even drunk, and Reyes wanted  _ him. _ And Jack...

Jack wanted him too. Whatever lies he had been telling himself, they fell away as he took in the sight of Reyes, spread and open beside him. Strange, how vulnerable he looked at that moment.

Experimentally he palmed him, letting his fingers learn the shape of him. Reyes shuddered, then arched, letting out a pleased grunt.

"Ah yeah, that's good," Reyes purred, pinning Jack with a heavy-lidded gaze. He grinned, a slow unfurling of almost predatory desire. "Who knew a choirboy like you could be such a tease. You really surprised me in there, Jackie."

Jack could've told Reyes that, barring the door's unexpected opening, he  _ would've _ sucked him off right there in that back hall. The very thought of it though made him feel a little bit dirty. Sure, SEP had been hard on him - on  _ all  _ of them - for a multitude of reasons, but he'd never expected the sort of intense  _ want _ that had boiled up in him these last few days.

"M'not a tease," mumbled Jack, teasing Reyes with several long strokes through the soft leather.

God, how he  _ wanted _ . But he didn't want to seem desperate, so he forced himself to keep a leisurely pace, quickening his strokes just enough so that Reyes shifted and bucked under his seatbelt, before backing off again. 

Okay, so maybe he was a tease. 

“You want to come back to my place?" Reyes asked, his tone deceptively light except for a thready undercurrent of strain. "I got an extra pair of pants if you want 'em."

Glancing out the window, Jack realized that they were nowhere near the club anymore. Reyes had been driving aimlessly, probably working up to this very moment. He supposed that should have made him a little nervous, but, well…

He had Reyes in the palm of his hands. 

"Sure," he shrugged, and ground the heel of his palm down Reyes' length encouragingly. He was feeling bold tonight.

_ "Ay, joder! _ ” Reyes breathed after another one of these calculated crescendos, hitting the gas and flying in and out of traffic, causing Jack to relinquish his grip on Reyes so he could brace himself on the door and center console. 

It seemed Reyes was in more than a little bit of a hurry to get back to his hotel. Jack sat, white-knuckled for seven more minutes until at last Reyes peeled into the parking lot of a local Extended Stay Inn. Once parked, the only sound was the ticking over of the engine while Jack tried to get his heart under control. 

“Jesus Reyes, who gave you a license?” he said, once his heart had ceased its gallop. Arousal had morphed to terror, and his poor dick had yet to recover. “If we had gotten pulled over I doubt the SEP would have bailed us out.”

“Eh, you worry too much, golden boy,” Reyes said breezily, zipping his pants back up as he got out of the car. Jack exited the car as well, feeling vaguely annoyed at how easily Reyes always brushed off his concerns. Also, his penchant for those damn nicknames. 

Reyes noticed him brooding. He slung an arm over Jack’s shoulders, leading him down the sidewalk towards the hotel’s side-entrance. His grip was gentle, the weight on Jack’s shoulders light, as if Reyes was holding back. This, Jack was beginning to understand, was another one of Reyes’ quirks: showing with his body what he had difficulty saying aloud. Reyes’ thumb brushed his shoulder before he turned Jack to ascend some stairs, then his arm slipped away entirely. 

"You  _ do _ realize that I call you 'golden boy' because you're the blondest white boy I've ever seen, right?" said Reyes as they came to the second floor, ruffling a hand through Jack's platinum-blonde hair. "You dye it?"

"No." 

Jack reached back to brush off Reyes' hand, then changed his mind. He captured Reyes' fingers between his own, marveling at how pale his seemed in comparison. Reyes was warm and brown, _ café au lait. _ Him? Pink, like baby mice.

"It's the sun."

"What?"

"The sun. It bleaches my hair," Jack said, embarrassed. His hair always started out straw-colored, but as soon as summer hit and he was out in the fields it bleached nearly white. SEP had been training them out in the Arizona heat in the weeks before this, and his hair had turned by the end of the tenth day.

Reyes chuckled, a low rich sound. “Okay.” 

He tugged Jack’s hand, leading him down the hall and stopping right in front of room 209. As Reyes pushed the door open, he felt his stomach give a little flip of anticipation. This was it. He was here, at Reyes’ room, about to fall into Reyes’ bed. A soldier who he had trained with, but not someone he necessarily counted as a friend. 

"You want anything to drink?" Reyes asked, flipping on the lights and sidetracking Jack's thoughts. His fingers slid away.

"Actually, yeah. Water would be great.” His headache, which had once again disappeared in the adrenaline flood caused by Reyes' driving, was resurfacing. He accepted the glass gladly, and drained the whole thing. It hit his brain like a slow-motion punch, dissolving the headache nearly instantly.

When he turned it was to see Reyes rifling through a duffel bag. He threw a pair of grey sweats and a black undershirt towards Jack, who caught them, puzzled. What was the shirt for? 

"You may not have noticed, but, ah, you got a little…" Reyes indicated his armpit with a lazy spin of his finger, and Jack looked down. There was a hole the size of a half-dollar along the seam of the underarm.

"Ah, c'mon!" What we're his clothes made of? God-damn tissue paper? 

With an irritated sigh, Jack tried to shuck off his shirt only to have his head get stuck in the neck hole. He fought with it for a moment, feeling it tear further until he felt skin against his back. Warm hands cupped his ribs, stroking down his sides. 

"Want some help with that?" 

Reyes had slipped behind him as silently as a shadow, but even with the space between them Jack could feel him. He was like a sun-warmed rock, all hard planes and radiant heat.  

"Yes, please." 

Reyes tugged the shirt back down over Jack's shoulders, pulling it so that it lay as though Jack has never tried to remove it. Then, he gripped the collar and ripped the whole garment off in one fluid movement.

Jack had only a second to twitch at the sudden bareness of his chest before Reyes' hands descended on him again, deftly snaking over his lower belly to pluck at his waistband.

"Need any help with these?" 

This time Jack could hear the teasing lilt in Reyes' voice edged with hunger. His stomach gave another flip, even as heat pooled in his groin. Not trusting his voice, he nodded and kicked off his shoes.

Reyes popped the button and then carefully drew his zipper down. His wrist brushed Jack's burgeoning arousal, and then his left hand cupped Jack possessively while his right pushed Jack's jeans over his hips and to his knees. Shimmying out of them the rest of the way, Jack worked up the courage to turn and face Reyes.

It wasn't fair that Reyes was still completely dressed. He had stepped back and was taking in the sight of Jack, clad in nothing but boxers and socks. Jack had to remind himself to pull his shoulders back, tempted as he was to hunch under the scrutiny. He planted his hands on his hips and thrust them forward, proudly displaying the tent in his boxers. 

"Like what you see?" 

Reyes' gaze was as weighty as a hand, wandering down Jack's bare skin and stopping squarely on his groin. 

"Not bad, Jackie," he purred, that predatory smirk still curling his lips. " _ Muy bonito _ ."

Jack understood very little Spanish, but he had the nagging feeling that Reyes had just called him  _ pretty. _ Not quite the reaction he had hoped for. He wanted to catch Reyes off guard, to take back some control from the man who seemed so unshakeable. The only time he could remember Reyes being taken aback had been...well.

"My turn." Jack said, stepping forward. He reached for Reyes' pants, and, when no protest came, proceeded to unbutton and unzip them. Pulling them down to Reyes' knees, he dropped suddenly into a crouch and pushed Reyes up against the wall. 

_ Oh yes _ . 

This was a familiar sight; Reyes' cock tenting his black briefs. Gripping Reyes' thighs, Jack leaned in and nuzzled that warm bulge. The musky smell of  _ man _ and  _ sweat _ assailed his nose, causing his groin to tighten almost painfully. He wasn't going to wait any longer.

Jack pulled Reyes' cock out through the slit in his briefs and drank in the sight of him. Uncut, dusky, and thick, just like the rest of him. _Really_ thick, actually. Jack might have him beat in length, but the thought of wrapping his lips around that fat shaft was a little daunting. It had been years since he'd done this, but it couldn't be that difficult to re-learn, could it? _Open mouth, insert cock._

Boldly he slipped his tongue beneath the sensitive fold of flesh, lapping and suckling until his foreskin rolled back smoothly. Above him he heard a  _ thunk _ as Reyes' head hit the wall.

"Jesus, you don't mess around!" Reyes breathed, his hands coming to tangle in Jack's hair. In answer, Jack sucked the first few inches of him in, glorying in the slick slide of Reyes beneath his tongue and the litany of grunts and curses that began to flow from overhead. 

"Shit, I knew you couldn’t have a pretty mouth like that for nothing," Reyes groaned, low and filthy. His hands tightened in Jack's hair, urging him down further. 

Gripping the base of Reyes' cock with one hand, Jack used the other to brace himself as he worked Reyes over. Reyes met his bobbing head with shallow thrusts, and Jack could feel him straining to keep himself under control. It made him want to work all the harder; he wanted to make Reyes lose it, shatter that commanding veneer.

Jack sucked for all he was worth, ignoring the urgency of his own erection in favor of drawing more exclamations out of Reyes. It was only when his jaw began to ache with the strain of it that he pulled off with a wet  _ pop _ .

"Bed?" he asked, rubbing saliva from his chin. 

In answer, Reyes hauled him to his feet pinned Jack against the wall. 

"You're drivin' me crazy, you know that?" he panted hotly in Jack's ear, planting a sucking kiss on his earlobe. He ground their hips together, tearing a gasp from Jack's throat. "The things I’m gonna do to you-" 

Jack interrupted him with a kiss.

It was short, sweet, strange. He'd never kissed a man with facial hair before. Reyes' goatee tickled his lip and chin, but it wasn't unpleasant. Jack was far more conscious of the soft pressure of Reyes' lips, the hot blast of air from his nostrils as he snorted in surprise, then accepted the kiss. 

It was Reyes who deepened it, the kiss devolving until it became almost animalistic, the two men positively devouring each other. It wasn't until Reyes lifted Jack off the floor and rubbed their erections firmly together that they broke apart with a gasp.

"Do that again," Jack demanded, wrapping his legs around Reyes' waist. He dug his heels into Reyes' ass trying to bring them together, but it wasn't until Reyes leaned in with all his weight that he hissed in satisfaction. 

They rutted like beasts against the wall, Jack rocking his weight forward again and again while Reyes thrust to meet him. Jack's hands were splayed across Reyes' back, gripping him tightly as they kissed and panted and groaned. Gasping as a particularly firm thrust ratcheted the tension in his groin up a few notches, he let out a high-pitched sound in the fraction of the space between their lips. 

He felt his back leave the wall and heard Reyes growl another curse in his ear. Jack slipped off him, weak-kneed and a little dazed.

"I am  _ not _ coming like this,” Reyes said with a rough laugh, kicking his pants off and then peeling both his underwear and socks off. He threw everything carelessly on the floor and Jack followed suit, shucking off the rest of his clothes. 

Once naked, Reyes practically threw him on the bed, crawling so that he was perched on top of him.

“God, I want to fuck you.”

The sound of those words sent a thrill of excitement through him. He took a second glance at Reyes’ bobbing cock, the girth of it. He imagined it stretching him wide and felt both an odd hunger and something close to terror.  _ Could he take all that? _

Reyes sat back on his heels, one hand cradling himself. “Too bad you’re a virgin. I’d probably break you with this.” 

When Jack looked into Reyes’ face he expected to see a smirk, but no. Though there was a spark of amusement in those dark eyes, mostly Reyes just looked flushed and ravenous. He bent, capturing Jack’s lips for a moment before breaking apart, and this time he  _ did  _ grin. “Lucky for you, I’m feeling up for something a little different.”

Reyes rolled off the bed and rummaged through his duffel bag - Jack eyeing the swell of his ass and dangling balls as he did - and surfaced a moment later with a small bottle. This he tossed at Jack just as he had the clothes, and Jack caught it deftly. He knew what it was even before he read the label: KY Personal Lubricant. 

“Okay Jackie, pay attention. I’m about to give you an education in one night.” Reyes said, clambering onto the bed. Jack scooted, giving him room to situate himself on the pillows at the headboard.

“I  _ do _ know how sex works, Reyes,” said Jack, flipping open the bottle’s cap. The white seal was still on, much to his surprise.

“Yeah? Well, the hundreds of hours of porn you’ve watched doesn’t count,” said Reyes, holding his hand out for the bottle. “And, if you’re gonna stick your dick in me you might as well call me Gabe.”

“Okay,  _ Gabe, _ ” said Jack, handing it over. The name felt weird on his tongue. “Gabe. Gabriel.” He tested the name out, but it sounded flat wrong. Wait, had Reyes just said he was going to  _ let Jack top him? _

“No Gabriel. I’m no fuckin’ angel.” 

Reyes peeled the seal off the bottle and tossed it onto the nightstand, pouring a small pool of viscous liquid into his palm. He swiped three fingers through it and then clenched his slick hand around them, pumping until all of them were coated in a glistening layer of lube. Hooking one arm under his knee, he pulled it back to expose his puckered hole. 

Jack watched with fascination and more than a little desire as first one, then two, then three fingers disappeared inside Reyes, stretching and pressing. Occasionally some movement would cause his cock to jump and ooze. He kept at it until a thin stream of precome hung like a glistening spiderweb from the tip of his cock.

_ It must be his prostate. _

Jack wanted to help. 

He scooted to Reyes' side, out of the way of Reyes' working hand and grabbed his cock, guiding it to his mouth. Reyes groaned as Jack sucked him down. Bobbing his head, he fisted Reyes’ cock until a hand urged him frantically off.

“Damn. Easiest prep I’ve ever done,” Reyes grunted. There was high color in his cheeks, and his pupils were blown wide, making his eyes look almost black. “Alright golden boy, switch me places.”

Reyes rolled off the pillows and Jack took his place, leaning back with a puzzled frown. He heard the cnap of the cap again as Reyes poured more lube into his palm, then stifled a breath as his cock was summarily slicked. A few pumps of Reyes’ fist had him arching up eagerly.

Reyes straddled his lap, poised over him like a hulking jungle cat. “Ready to become a man, Jackie?” he purred. 

Jack had no time to answer before Reyes was gripping him, holding him upright and firm as he worked himself down with short rocks of his hips.  _ Fuck. _ He was  _ inside him! _ It was all Jack could do to keep breathing, his brain so overloaded with  _ tight _ and  _ wet  _ and  _ warm _ that his breath was coming in stuttering gasps.His legs trembled with the effort to stay still; he didn’t want to hurt Reyes.

Or, he didn’t want to hurt Reyes and then end up with his cock broken. That would be difficult to explain to command.

When at last Reyes had bottomed out, Jack felt like every one of his muscles was strung with piano wire. Each nerve was taut and vibrating; excruciatingly attuned to each of Reyes' movements.

“Ohhh yeah,” Reyes murmured, rocking forward so that Jack slipped out of him a few inches. “ _ Aguanta, cariño.”  _

Then he snapped his hips down. 

The sensation of smoothness and heat dragging up and down his cock had Jack's groin tightening further, filling him with the urgent need to drive up, to encase himself in Reyes' body. He began meeting Reyes' thrusts, heels digging into the bed to match his force.

He wasn't even aware of the cries and moans leaving his mouth until Reyes panted in his ear: "You're going to wake the neighbors if you keep that up, Jack."

Just the sight of his cock disappearing into Reyes' warm body was almost too much. The knot in his belly threatened to boil over, pleasure coursing like molten iron through his veins-

"Stop!" 

Jack pulled his hips back, slipping free of Reyes. He was so close, but he didn't want it to be over yet. Breathing deeply and biting his tongue, the pain cooled the fire of his ardor. That terrible tension eased.

"Already, huh?"

"Shut up, Gabe." Jack panted, cheeks hot. 

"No, no, it's flattering, really. Making virgins blow in under a minute is an accomplishment.”

If the pain hadn’t done it, Reyes’ jokes could’ve. His arousal was firmly under control again.  _ He’d show him.  _

"O-okay, I'm ready to try again."

Reyes sank back down, but this time he didn't resume his rocking motion. Instead he shifted his hips back and forth, an expression of intense concentration on his face. It was only when his nostrils flared and his brows knit that Jack realized what he’d been searching for.

Reyes' lips parted and Jack could hear the faint hitch of his breath as he began grinding his hips, using Jack for his pleasure. His cock bobbed between them, rock hard and aimed straight at Jack's face. Precome was again drooling from the slippery, winking eye of Reyes’ cock; a translucent strand that puddled onto his belly. 

_ God,  _ that was hotter than it had any right to be.

Entranced, Jack closed a hand lightly around that rigid flesh, pumping Reyes in time with the motion of his hips.

"Y-you trying to get me to spill, boy scout?" Reyes groaned, pushing eagerly into Jack's palm. 

"Maybe."

"Well, two can play at that game.”

He proceeded to set a punishing pace, riding Jack with such enthusiasm that the bed creaked and shuddered, knocking against the wall. The rhythm of Jack's hand faltered, paralyzed by the crescendoing tide of pleasure. 

"Reyes," Jack choked, "I -I can't-" he couldn't even get the damn words out, but Reyes already knew.  Somehow he increased his speed, leaning forward to sink his teeth into Jack's shoulder.

He was lost.

For a few blissful seconds all Jack was aware of was the waves of ecstasy pulsing through his body. He could barely feel the movement of Reyes' hand, working furiously between their bellies. It wasn't until he felt something warm flooding onto his stomach that he opened his eyes, becoming cognizant of the fact that Reyes had reached his own peak and was now coming all everywhere.

"Fuuuuuck," Reyes ground out, hissing the words against Jack's lips as the last few jets of his come spurted onto Jack’s belly. His body was rigid, twitching iron. 

When his orgasm ceased he collapsed, gluing them together.

They panted against each other for a few long seconds, savoring the afterglow until Jack tilted his head to steal a kiss from Reyes. One kiss turned into two, then three. It felt strangely intimate; even more intimate than his cock softening inside Reyes. When at last they broke apart, he felt warm content steal over him and exhaustion begin to settle like a heavy blanket.

"Well, if the neighbors were asleep they're definitely not now," Reyes joked, shattering Jack's reverie.

"Shoulda shut me up then," Jack replied, too tired to think of anything clever. 

"I will next time."

_ Next time? _

"Okay, I'm gonna go hop in the shower or things are gonna get gross here real fast," said Reyes, who apparently had no respect for post-coital bliss. He shifted off Jack, hustling to the bathroom. In the ensuing silence the squeak of the shower knob sounded as loud as a scream.

Jack was left alone, cum cooling on his skin, feeling strangely bereft. 

He listened as the shower curtain was pulled back, heard the soft sound of steps and the patter of water cascading down a hard surface. Looking at his stomach, he thought a shower wouldn’t be amiss, but was he supposed to wait? Join Reyes?

In the end, he waited. Once the shower squeaked off and Reyes emerged, he got up, grabbed the change of clothes Reyes had lent him and got in the shower himself.

Getting clean felt heavenly, but the warmth was hypnotic. He felt like he could've fallen asleep standing up. He was so tired.

Jack finished his shower and changed, and when he exited the bathroom it was to see the room dark and Reyes already burrowed into the bed. 

Uncertain of what to do, Jack hesitated. Was he supposed to head back to his own place now?

"Uh...I guess I should go?" he said, more of a question than a statement.

"Go?" Reyes yawned, an immobile lump under the covers. "Keys are on the counter, if you want 'em. I'm dead."

Jack wondered if that was Reyes' version of ' _ please stay the night'.  _

He decided to take it as such.

Sliding under the sheets felt odd. He had never shared a bed with someone else before. Or at least, not since he had been a child, crawling into his parents' bed after a particularly bad nightmare. He had never shared a bed with a  _ lover _ .

A lover who was apparently almost already asleep, if the deep breaths inches away from him were to be believed. Well, maybe he wasn’t the only one who was tired. It had been a long night - or, morning. There was so much he had to document -

Oh, shit. 

He hadn’t written his report yet, or uploaded the photos...but he was so warm and tired right now. Surely he could do it later. The pictures wouldn’t go anywhere...and the name  _ JP _ was easy enough to remember…

The AC kicked on next to them, filling the room with the gentle white noise of blowing air and humming metal. The chill of it drove Jack deeper into the covers, burrowing instinctively towards warmth. His mind sinking into sleep, he finally relaxed when his body snuggled up next to something warm.

Then he slept.

 

***

 

In the end, they concluded the mission a full week early. Once Jack and Reyes had uploaded their pictures and their separate reports, the SEP had pulled them.

It was a shame, really. Those two free days had been certainly enjoyable. 

They had spent the time mostly seeing the city, or else holed up in their hotels. Okay, mostly holed up in  _ Reyes’  _ hotel. Jack had more or less moved in there by the time SEP had extracted them. 

He told himself that it just made sense for him to be close by. 

Reyes had even turned down his snark a notch, though perhaps he had been mellowed by the daily blowjobs. Either way, he and Jack were getting along better than they ever had. It was a shame they had to leave California. 

 

***

"Well done on your operation, Reyes, Morrison."

Jack and Gabriel stood in Sergeant Major Anderson's office dressed in only casual civilian wear. After being flown back to SEP headquarters they had been ushered straight to the Command Office with no time to change. Command had expected a full debriefing, even with the daily reports they had been sending in.

Standing smartly at attention in sweatpants and a t-shirt felt somehow  _ wrong _ to Jack, but he persisted.

"Thank you, sir," they answered in unison.

"With this data we should be able to move forward with the plan to shut that whole operation down. You boys have earned yourselves the weekend off." Sergeant Major Anderson's smiled, gray mustache ticking up at the corners. 

He tapped at something on the holopad in his desk in front of him. "Go on, enjoy yourselves for a few days. Next week you’ll have new missions assigned to you." And with a wave of his hand he dismissed them.

"Thank you, sir," repeated Jack with a nod before retreating smartly from the room, Reyes leading the way.

In the hall they grabbed their duffel bags and takeaway coffees, heading out of the crowded administration building and towards the agent quarters.

"What was the fuckin' point of those reports if they weren't going to  _ read _ them?" Reyes groused, nursing his coffee. "I'm not gonna even do that shit next time."

Jack shrugged, taking a deep drink from his own cup. It had cooled considerably in the half hour they had been there. Shame.  "Guess they just wanted to be thorough."

"Thorough my ass," Reyes rolled his eyes. "At least they gave us the weekend off."

"Yeah," Jack smiled, and then nudged Reyes as they came up to their barracks. "So, what are you gonna do with your free weekend?" He looked over, raising his eyebrows, hoping Reyes would get his drift. Honestly he wasn't even sure the man would want to associate with him after the mission, but…

"Oh, I'm not sure," Reyes said, tone light. He returned Jack's gaze and Jack could see the intensity there, the hunger spearing him like a lance. "Thought I might stay in, watch a few movies, have a couple drinks."

"Sounds like my kind of weekend." 

"Well shit, if you're gonna be doing that I might as well come over." 

Reyes and Jack ascended the stairs, bags bumping together.  If they stood just a little bit closer, well, there was no one that would notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay joder - oh fuck
> 
> Muy bonito - very pretty
> 
> Aguanta, cariño - Hold on, baby
> 
> Why yes, there will be an epilogue. Pretty much just smut...


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut and fluff all the way down, baby.

"Th-that feels weird-"

"Hmm?" Reyes hummed, but continued.

"I just-I'm not sure I can- _ nnnngh!" _

Reyes smirked as Jack's cock jumped beneath his tongue. "Not sure you can what?"

"I'm - not sure I can handle that...it feels weird!"

"What, this?" Reyes asked, rubbing his finger firmly against Jack's prostate.

"Ghhah! Yes! That!" Jack groaned, hips twitching as if to squirm away.

Reyes paused, blowing out a heavy breath against the pink head of Jack's cock. The man himself was red-faced and panting, spread wide with Reyes situated between his legs. Irresistible, that's how he looked. Blue eyes sparking, his skin flushed all the way down through his chest.

He was just so damn cute, and he didn't even know it.

"Why not?" Brazenly, Reyes licked the dribbling head of Jack's cock and pressed his finger down again, eliciting a choked gasp.

"B-because! It feels like- like-" his voice dropped into a mortified whisper, "-like I'm going to  _ pee. _ "

Biting back a roar of laughter, Reyes planted a gentle kiss on Jack's bobbing erection. Reassurance, that was what Jack needed. "Don't worry, you won't. Felt like that for me at first too. Just relax into it, it gets better if you keep going." 

"O-okay…" Jack murmured, unconvinced.

Reyes pressed a second finger to Jack's hole, massaging the tender flesh there until it relaxed. He continued until soft moans from above encouraged him to push forward, and he took Jack's cock into his mouth as his finger popped in to the second knuckle.

"Ohhh Gabe-"

Jack was an incredibly vocal lover. And as flattering as it was to hear his praises nearly yelled to the heavens, it did make keeping this liaison on the down-low nigh impossible without the aid of either extremely loud music or extremely loud movies. 

Maybe it was time to invest in a ball gag.

Jack accepted the rest of the second finger without issue. Reyes began the same foreplay with the third, continuing to bob his head as he did. A thorough prep was important. He fully intended to make Jack scream today, but not in pain.

Today, he was taking Jack Morrison's virginity.

His third finger slipped in smoothly next to the others, stroking the buttery-softness of Jack's insides. Reyes' cock throbbed urgently against the bed, eager to begin but he ignored it.  _ Soon. _

Again Reyes pressed against Jack's prostate, swirling his tongue over the head of his cock as he did. This earned him a surprised lurch of Jack's hips and another salty wave of precome on his tongue.

"It's-is that how it's  _ s-supposed _ to feel?" Jack asked in an almost reverent whisper, shivering with what Reyes hoped with pleasure. Reyes pressed more firmly and sucked more enthusiastically, earning a loud cry and a hand tangled in his hair.

"Now you’re getting it. " he answered, pulling off with a wet  _ pop _ . Nearly there now.

Preparing Jack had been an endeavor several hours in the making. First he had balked at the enema until Reyes had explained the possible consequences of sex without one. 

“Besides, a little water up your ass is nothing. We’ve had worse from the damn injections.” 

Then had been the matter of getting Jack in the mood again after the enema. That hadn’t been difficult; a little kissing (Jack was really big on the kissing), more than a little rubbing, some mutual blowjobs - that had been a pleasure. 

Now he was stretching him. Teasing him. He wanted Jack to want it, to  _ beg _ for it before he finally gave in. The more Jack wanted it, the better it would be. So Reyes would work on him. Tease him. Pleasure him for hours, if that’s what it took. 

His cock throbbed against the bed, and Reyes pressed his hips down, sparking his own pleasure.  _ Hold steady.  _

He sucked Jack and continued stretching and rubbing with the three fingers firmly entrenched inside him, pausing occasionally to suckle at his balls. That especially Jack seemed to enjoy, if the gasps and groans were anything to go by. He continued until Jack’s breathing became choppy, his whimpers higher pitched. Salty flavor on his tongue, and a complex, almost earthy meatiness as Jack threatened to blow. Jack's cock swelled- 

-and he pulled off, withdrawing his fingers entirely. 

It was beautiful to watch; Jack’s mouth was parted in a groan, those baby blues staring up at Reyes in puzzled pleasure that quickly darkened to frustration. His cock twitched urgently against his stomach, his balls high and tight with the need to come. Orgasm denied, his brow knit in frustration.

“ _ Gabe- _ ” Jack began, but Reyes interrupted him.

“Trust me, Jack,” he said, leaning down to capture his lips and pacify him with a kiss. “This’ll make it all worth it.” They kissed until Jack melted back against the bed, then Reyes returned to his ministrations. He teased Jack’s neck and nipples and stroked him slowly, then returned to sliding three fingers in him. The second time was much quicker, Jack’s body relaxing to accept him with increasing ease. He brought Jack to the edge three more times, and with each staved orgasm Jack became more and more agitated. 

After the fourth time he almost screamed the words Reyes had been waiting to hear: “Please, just  _ do it _ already!” 

He was tempted to answer “Do what?” but thought Jack might just explode with rage if he did. Instead he acquiesced.

“ _ Como desées, cariño.” _

Propping Jack's hips on a pillow, he admired his handiwork.  _ Oh yes, this was going to be perfect _ . The only thing left was lube. Lots and lots of lube. 

He slathered it on, huffing in aborted satisfaction as he rolled his foreskin all the way back. Crawling over to Jack he pulled one of his ankles gently, making a space for himself. It was impossible to not notice the apprehensive twitch of Jack’s eyes downwards as he did. 

_ Still afraid, huh? _

He lined himself up then pressed the slick, spongy head of his cock to Jack’s hole. He didn’t push further, merely rubbed in small circular motions at that puckered entrance until it softened and began to give. With his other hand he reached again for Jack’s cock, pumping it as he teased. Slowly, oh so slowly, he began to sink in. 

Jack groaned as Reyes slid another centimeter. 

“Does it hurt?” He stilled. 

“Nnnno,” Jack panted, “just feels...full.” 

Full was okay. Full he could work with. 

He leaned over Jack and took his mouth, kissing him deeply as he renewed his slow push. Swallowing each gasp and moan, he moved at glacier speed; finely attuned to the body twitching beneath him. When at last he bottomed out, he broke the kiss.

“Still okay?” Jack, red-faced and dazed, nodded. “Okay, stop me if it’s too much.” 

Then he began to move.

Oh _fuck._ Jack was still tight. _Tightass,_ _hah._ Now he’d earned that moniker for an entirely new reason. Velvet heat was hugging his cock, the snug ring of his anus caressing him with each stroke. He started with short, easy jabs of his hips, still fisting Jack firmly with one hand, unwilling to let him go. Jack accepted the pace easily, but that wasn’t what he wanted; he needed to hear him _really_ let go. 

Reyes shifted his hips slightly with each thrust, watching Jack’s expression carefully. It wasn’t subtle; when he found what he was searching for Jack’s eyes flew open, a surprised sound escaping him.

“You good?”

“Y-y-yeah…” Jack breathed, and shuddered. “Keep going.” 

“Alright, hold this.” He released Jack’s cock and instead gripped his hips, using his new leverage to increase the force and depth of his strokes. Jack’s cries told him that more often than not he was successful at hitting his mark. The legs around his back tightened, Jack helping him along.

Reyes fell forward, pressing Jack into the bed. He mouthed along a muscular shoulder, tasting sweat as he planted hard, sucking kisses on every inch of flesh he could reach. Jack’s cock throbbed between them, a sticky iron brand against his belly.

God, if this continued he was really gonna need to invest in some soundproofing. Not even the sounds of explosions rocking through his speakers was enough to mask the hoarse sounds being ripped from Jack’s throat. It was pretty damn flattering, and more than a little hot. If his neighbors complained to him later, well fuck’em. 

He kissed Jack again, and it was uncoordinated, sloppy.  _ Perfect.  _ Teeth clacked against his own as Jack breathed, open-mouthed against his lips. __

He was being consumed. 

Jack, panting against his lips, frantically kissing back between groans. Jack, raking his back so hard he knew he’d have marks. Jack, digging his heels into his rump, forcing him in deeper.  _ Shit. _

Reyes snarled a wordless sound of pleasure against Jack’s neck, digging his teeth into a cord of muscle. He rutted against him like an animal, pinning him in place with his mouth. Good. He felt so fucking  _ good- _ and fuck, it was all happening too fast. 

Pleasure boiled up in him like fire in his veins, threatening to explode. He chased after it, tempo accelerating until he was pounding Jack into the bed. Jack took it all unflinchingly, eagerly. Taking from Reyes just as much as he was given. Reyes went all in. For one brief, shining moment he wanted to forget: the mounting responsibility, the war, the SEP, the danger that was surely lurking in both their futures. 

For a while, it worked. There was nothing but him and Jack in this nest of their own making. Then, Jack whimpered in his ear: “Reyes, I think I’m gonna come.” 

“Yeah? Don’t hold back  _ cariño.”  _

“I-I-” but Jack couldn't finish. He howled a ragged, wordless cry of pleasure, cock pulsing between their bodies. 

As Jack wailed and quaked his way through his orgasm, Reyes himself was barreling towards the edge. Fingers still clawed at his back, and when teeth sank into his shoulder the pain tipped him right over. He shoved in as far as he would go, orgasm exploding through him in a hot wash of perfect, timeless bliss.  

Then it was over. He ground his hips against Jack's ass, wringing out every last drop of pleasure until he was spent and the aftershocks bordered on painful. Carefully he rolled off, collapsing next to Jack on the rumpled bed.

“You okay?” He turned to look at Jack, whose eyes were half-lidded in what Reyes hoped was contentment.

“Mmm, yeah. But tired now.” Jack’s mouth was curled in a small smile, his eyes half-lidded and lambent in the lamplight. A strange look crossed his face, wrinkling his nose in confusion. “And...wet.” He reached a hand down between his legs, touching himself where Reyes had just been. “I think I understand what you meant by ‘things are gonna get gross’ now.”

Reyes looked down to see his come leaking out of Jack’s ass. It was dripping all over the pillow, but the sight filled him with warmth and a strange possessiveness.  _ Mine. _

“Uh, sorry about your pillow.”  

“That’s okay, I shoulda put down a towel. Wanna head to the shower?” Reyes said, rolling off the bed to offer Jack a hand up. 

“Sure...how do I-?” Jack paused, looking distressed. “Do I just like, squeeze my butt cheeks together or what?”

Reyes couldn’t stop the laughter that poured out of him at the thought. He could totally see it too, Jack waddling frantically to the bathroom with his hands firmly clutching his ass. “No, let me help you out.” He slid his arms under Jack’s knees and back, hoisting him up in his arms bridal-style.

He carried Jack to the bathroom and shifted him awkwardly to one arm so he could turn on the shower. While they waited for the water to warm, he couldn’t resist asking: “So, how was it?”

Jack shot him a look. It was evident he thought that Reyes was fishing for a compliment. He wasn’t. Unless Jack was the world’s most consummate actor, (no pun intended) Reyes could tell that he had genuinely enjoyed what they had done. 

“It was...better than I expected,” Jack said finally. 

He raised an eyebrow at him, testing the water as he did. Almost warm enough. “Better than expected, huh? You really know how to make a guy feel special.”

Jack punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t take it like that,” he said. “I just meant...well…” 

“C’mon Jackie, spit it out. I can handle the truth.”

With the water warm enough, Reyes pushed aside the shower curtain and stepped inside, keeping his back to the water so Jack wouldn’t be immediately doused. He set him down, and then offered him a space under the spray with a flourish of his hand. 

“It’s going to sound stupid,” Jack said, edging under the showerhead. 

“I can handle a little stupid,  _ cariño _ .” Reyes watched the water cascade down Jack’s neck and resisting the urge to lean in and lick. 

“I just thought that it would feel like...I dunno, like pooping and un-pooping over and over,” Jack said. He turned his back to Reyes as he said it, but he couldn’t hide the telltale redness creeping into his ears. So easily embarrassed. Reyes hoped he would never lose that, it was one of his favorite things about him. 

“And did it?” He grabbed a bar of soap and lathered it, rubbing it over the wide, wet span of skin before him. Perhaps a bit presumptuous, but the man had his come seeping out of his ass. Reyes liked to take care of what was his. That, and his cock was already beginning to take an interest in the proceedings.  _ Super libido, thank you SEP. _

“Obviously not.” Jack reached for a bottle on the shower shelf, helping himself to Reyes’ shampoo. 

“So, did you  _ like _ it?” Reyes leaned in, purring the words in Jack’s ear. He wanted to hear him say it. 

Jack tried to shy away from him, but there was nowhere else to go. Reyes pinned him against the wall of the shower, still stroking soapy hands down Jack’s body. Gently he slid his hands down Jack’s flaccid cock, cupped his balls, skated his fingers over Jack’s slick perineum.

“Stop that!” Jack hissed, but without any real heat. He pushed off the shower wall with his hips, forcing Reyes back. Reyes let himself be trapped, relinquishing the soap to Jack who began to do as Reyes had done, washing his lover vigorously. Jack’s eyes were on Reyes’ chest when he answered. 

“...Yeah, I liked it.” He squelched soap over Reyes’ abs, hovering just over his groin. “But don’t let it go to your head!”

“Me?” Reyes said innocently, canting his hips toward Jack. “I would never!” 

When Jack finally began to rub his soapy hands over Reyes’ cock, he sighed with pleasure. He pulled them together, giving in to the urge to plant a sucking kiss to Jack’s neck. He tasted soap. 

“Wanna do it again?”

“ _ Reyes!” _

Some time later, they were both situated in Reyes’ bed, damp and pink from an extended stay in the shower. Reyes had cast the soiled pillowcase on the floor and tucked them both under the covers, putting on a new movie under the pretense of a relaxing night in. Jack, super centenarian that he was, had fallen asleep almost as soon as the opening credits had finished rolling. 

He lay half-across Reyes’ chest, breathing the sighing breaths of the deeply asleep, and in this moment of stillness Reyes was feeling pensive. How like him, to not be able to simply enjoy this post-coital exhaustion. 

The truth was, his mind was racing. He couldn’t seem to get it to shut up; his thoughts were fully occupied by the man currently tucked against his armpit.

He had known Jack as a comrade, and respected him as a fellow soldier. The shit they’d been through would kill a lesser man, and he’d earned that much by simply pulling through. But he also resented him for his seemingly blind obedience. Before the mission he’d thought of Jack as the lapdog of the SEP, their golden boy with a perfect track record. An excellent agent, but one without a critical thinking bone in his body. The ideal soldier. Now, having seen him outside the confines of the program he knew he was wrong. Jack wasn't obedient out of loyalty, he was just naive. 

The kid had been in the Army since he was 18; perhaps it could be excused. Reyes had too, but he’d been in it long enough and risen high enough to become disillusioned to the whole thing. He’d cracked the mold.

Jack...well. Given a little help, he might too.

That naivety could be endearing and frustrating in equal measure. Jack didn’t really understand what the SEP had done to them, how they were being used. How anyone could get this far into the war with such a quality intact was a fucking miracle, and yet…

Reyes looked at the sleeping form next to him. Fair-skinned and blonde-haired, the vision of a young god. 

He thought maybe that innocence was worth protecting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Como desees, cariño. - As you wish, baby.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
